The Awakening Part I: Second Chance
by Frostbreaker
Summary: The loss of memories of our past can have devastating effects on our life...but sometimes, it can offer a rare second chance at a life. This is the story of a young man who finds himself in this very situation. As he slowly uncovers the truth, will he decide he likes who he is...or who he was? Rated T for language, crude humor, and some suggestive situations.
1. Ch 1: Out with the Old

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or original story elements associated with the Pokemon series, manga, or game. All rights go to their respective owners.**

* * *

Chapter 1: Out with the Old...

It's a strange thing, not remembering who you are, or where you come from...but you make due. I mean, what else is there to do? It's not like I can just say 'screw it' and give up. Well, I mean I _could_, but I won't. I guess waking up surrounded by frightened animals at the bottom of a gorge will do that to you.

Yeah, that was how it all started...this new life of mine. I'm still not sure whether _new_ is a good thing or not, but I don't really have anything to go off of. All I have from whatever my past life was is these six friends of mine.

The first one is an orange dragon-looking thing with a flame on his tail. I was afraid at first until I noticed that what looked like a threat display was actually him reaching out to see if I was okay, and I instantly felt bad about acting all scared around him. He's been very protective of me and made sure to teach me how to find shelter, feed myself, and protect myself.

The next one is basically a purple floating cloudy face with two hands. I can't tell whether this one is a male or female, but whatever it is, it's mischievous as all hell. I always have to be on my guard around it, because I never know when the next prank is gonna be, but I realized pretty quickly that it was all in good fun, so I rather enjoyed it.

Next was a weird blue reptilian looking thing with giant red spines on its head, back, and tail. He's over a foot taller than me, but was very gentle and reserved otherwise. I think of him as my stoic protector, as he is always the last one to go to sleep at night, and first one to rise...ever vigilant for whatever perceived threats there might be.

Up next was what looked like a blue dog, but with yellow fur on its head, front paws, and tops of the rear legs. This girl is always wanting to play, so I figured she must have been really young, but it was okay because she always had a way of raising my spirits.

A giant snake was the last one I met, but still one of my favorites to hang around. She's green with what look like little leaves at the end of her tail, along with intricate yellow markings on her back. Near her head, it almost looks like she's wearing a really long coat, as it fans out in a beautiful collar, giving her a very regal appearance. The way she treats me and the others, it almost seems like she's the mother of us all, and she always makes sure we're all okay.

Lastly, but certainly not least, is personally my favorite to be around most of the day. She is about a foot shorter than me, and her body is the most like mine out of all my friends. She has soft blue hair that falls across her face, shielding most of it, and vivid gold eyes. A strange golden ridge is on both her front and back, and it's shiny, kinda like a gem. Lastly, she wears a flowing white dress with violet accents. I don't know what it is about her, but she always seems to be hiding something from me, though I don't know what. Still...she's always happy to spend time with me and her laugh is heavenly to hear the few times she lets it out.

* * *

These six were the first faces I woke up to after whatever the hell happened to me, and I live with them away from others like me. Seems whenever others see any of them, they want to fight them with animal-friends of their own, though I don't really know why. I make sure to keep my distance nowadays though, after a violent run-in with one of them caused my blue reptile friend to almost kill him. After that, I retreated into the safety of the forest, helping my friends cut down trees to build a large cabin for us all. In addition to my six friends I already have, every now and then other animals will come to check us all out, and I always get the distinct impression that they're very confused, though I don't know about what.

Over weeks and months, I had grown close to my friends - who from a passing boy I learned were known as "Pokemon". That same boy was also kind enough to tell me what my friends were as well. For example, my dragon-friend was known as a Charizard, and Mr. Protector was known as a Feraligatr. The boy - whose name turned out to the Anthony - would often visit me, making sure we didn't get lonely and that everything was okay. He also taught me how to plant and grow different kinds of berries, which depending on the type can cure poison, cure paralysis, heal burns, and even give an energy boost.

* * *

That pretty much catches us up to today.

So today, like most days, I was sitting out with my Gardevoir friend near a lake, simply enjoying the light breeze of fall and listening to my other friends play and/or train. Train for what, I don't know, but I wasn't going to stop them.

"Hey!" shouted a young voice from behind me.

The Feraligatr immediately crossed the small spring with ease and took a fighting stance near me before dropping it with a grin as he noticed who it was.

I turned to face the boy running up with a smile. "Hey Anthony, what's going on?"

He stopped and bent over, hands on his knees. He sucked in a few deep breaths before standing up. "I just thought you should know, there's a group of trainers headed this way. It looks like they heard about you."

I raised an eyebrow. "Heard about me? What do they want?"

He gave me a look that just screamed 'really?' "What do you think they want? They want to battle you. These guys don't look like they're gonna take no for an answer."

I shrugged. "Well they're gonna have to, because I'm not going to."

He gestured to all my friends around the area. "But these are your Pokemon! What do you think you have them for?"

I snapped my eyes up with a glare. "Hey...I told you that I don't _own_ any of them. They're not _mine._ The _only_ reason I don't destroy those Pokeball things and set them free is because then some other trainer would catch them and do Arceus knows what with them. As far as your other explanation, Pokemon don't _have_ to fight." I gestured to the Charizard and Feraligatr. "Those two might _want _to, but I'm not going to make them. If they want to fight, it's on them, not me. They're their own Pokemon. I'm not their master or anything, and they're not pets."

Anthony then bowed his head in shame. "Y-your right. I'm sorry. I forgot about how you feel about them all." He then snapped his gaze back up to meet my eyes. "But what are you gonna do about the t-"

He was cut off as a loud obnoxious voice yelled through the trees. "Hey loner, where are ya? We know you're out here!"

I grumbled and stood up, looking towards the young blonde-haired annoyance. "It's not like I'm hiding, or anything. What do you want?"

The guy smirked, as did his friends. "Well we see you got a bunch of final evolutions out here, save for that Haunter. We wanna battle them and see just how tough you are."

I shrugged. "Well good for you. Not happening." As I turned to walk away a hand grabbed my shoulder and spun me around. The Feraligatr immediately pushed the punk back and growled menacingly. I just waved him off and shook my head. I turned back towards the young trainer and smirked. "I wouldn't recommend trying that again. Next time, I might not be able to stop him." At that moment, the Charizard and Feraligatr stepped by my side, both taking fighting stances and eyeing me with anticipation. I looked at the both of them and shrugged. "If you guys want to fight it out, I'm not gonna stop you." They both nodded and I turned to the group of trainers again. "Well guys, looks like you're in luck. These two are willing to fight."

The blonde-haired boy fist pumped and smiled. "Yes, finally! Alright then, take your position." The Charizard stood still where he was, I just went and sat against a tree. The boy looked at me curiously and beckoned me forward. "Umm...dude, you need to stand up if we're gonna do this."

"He's the one fighting. Why do _I_ need to stand for him to fight?" I asked, pointing at the Charizard.

Now the trainer looked even more confused. "Umm...because you have to tell him what moves to use and when."

"Why?" I asked, confused myself now. "He obviously knows what he can and can't do, and from what I've seen he knows what he's doing in a fight. Just try him out. I'm pretty sure you won't be disappointed."

The boy shrugged and threw a Pokeball onto the field, revealing a huge turtle-looking thing with two huge cannons coming out of its back shell. "Alright Shellshock, let's do this. Against a fire-type, this'll be a piece of cake. Alright, hit him with hydro pump!" The two cannons on the behemoth's back took aim before firing massive jets of water out towards the Charizard.

Now I don't know a whole lot about how Pokemon battle, but I was smart enough to know that water would be bad for a fire Pokemon, so I was a little scared when the Charizard didn't move at all.

I shouldn't have worried.

My orange friend flapped his powerful wings and shot into the air, immediately diving down towards the opponent with a crackling fist of electricity, before hitting the other in the face with a strong jolt of electricity. The opponent fell to the ground in a heap, eyes open but unmoving.

I chuckled and pointed to the Pokemon. "That was only after one hit. Are you sure you want to keep doing this?"

The trainer growled and called his Pokemon back to the Pokeball in a flash of red light. He grabbed the other Pokeball he brought and threw it into the air. "Go, Blaziken!" Out popped a tall red Pokemon, with white hair or fur going from its head down its back, and yellow fur along its feet and on its chest. Contrary to how fearsome this Pokemon looked, though, it was apparent it didn't want to fight. The trainer kicked his shoe into the ground and growled. "I said go! Get in there!"

I hadn't learned to understand the Pokemon language, but I understood body language very well. As soon as the trainer yelled at the Blaziken, it cringed in fear and even shuddered a little. My eyes widened and I leaned over to Anthony. "Hey Tony, what do you know about Blaziken?"

"Well, they love to fight and train. Why?" he asked.

I pointed at the Blaziken, who had a fear-stricken expression. "Does _that _look like a Pokemon that loves to fight? Something's wrong."

The young boy looked at the fiery Pokemon and nodded. "You're right, that Blaziken is terrified of its trainer." He gulped and looked at me, obviously thinking the same thing I was. "You don't think..."

I nodded. "Yeah...yeah I do." I stood up and glared at the yelling trainer. "Hey! Enough already, it doesn't want to fight!"

The blone-headed boy glared right back and snarled. "Well I don't care. I'm the trainer, and I say she fights!"

I looked back at the Haunter and nodded towards the trainer. "Hey, do you think you can sneak over there and get that Blaziken's Pokeball and bring it here?" It nodded and dissipated into mist, floating towards the group of trainers. Of course by the time the boy noticed what had happened, it was too late...I was already holding the Pokeball.

"Hey, that's stealing! Give that back!" he yelled in a rage.

I looked to the frightened Blaziken and curled a finger a few times in a 'come here' gesture. She looked back at her trainer briefly before dashing across the field to me, hiding behind my slightly smaller form. I looked back at the trainer and shook my head. "No, I'm not giving this back to you. It's pretty clear that whatever you did to her killed her will to fight...and for a Blaziken, it had to be something pretty bad." I sighed and looked back at the Blaziken, who now had the smallest of hopeful smiles on her face. "Do you want to go back to him?" The Pokemon immediately shook her head fiercely, so I gazed back at the trainer. "Well she's chosen for herself. She no longer belongs to you, because it's obvious you can't care for her properly." With that, I turned around to go back to the pond and rest.

"Bullshit!" cried a voice.

Before I could react, something hard hit me in the back, knocking me to the ground. I turned around painfully to see a huge rock snake Pokemon throwing rocks at us. I placed up my hands in a futile attempt to protect myself, but the hit never came. I opened my eyes and saw the Gardevoir, her hands extended to form a bright blue forcefield around us. Rocks continued to pummel it though, and I could tell she was quickly getting tired.

She seemed to mouth something to me in her Pokemon speech before the barrier collapsed, as did she. Rocks were again flying towards me, but the Gardevoir's form stood in front of me once again. For a brief second, I thought it would all be over for us, but a massive shockwave of energy shot out from her core, instantly causing me to black out.

* * *

"Oh no, oh no, oh no! Don't do this to me, Tim...wake up! Wake up!" cried a woman's voice next to me.

A gruff male voice spoke next. "He's survived worse, remember? He'll be fine Geanne."

I opened my eyes with some effort to find myself staring back at two golden eyes. I was instantly wrapped up in a hug, which I returned, even though I didn't really know who was hugging me. After I regained my bearings, I noticed it was the Gardevoir that saved me, so I then hugged her even tighter.

"Hey, I'm okay. My back's a little sore, but I'm pretty sure I'll be fine. I promise." I said gently, trying to reassure her.

She pulled back and nodded. "Okay."

As soon as the words left her mouth, I jumped back in shock. "Y-you just spoke!"

She rolled her eyes and sighed, looking at the Charizard. "I know I don't speak all that often, but does he have to be so rude about it?"

I pointed wildly at the Gardevoir, nearly hyperventilating. "See? Right there, you spoke again! I understood that!"

The Serperior sighed and coiled up next to me. "I think you hit him too hard, dear. He's delirious."

"Hey, I'm _not_ delirious!" I shouted back.

"Whoa!" the Serperior exclaimed before lunging away from me.

I sighed and rolled my eyes. "_Now_ you believe me." I then stood up, still a little shaky. "Okay, anyone care to explain why I can understand you all? Not that it's not cool and all, but it's freaking me out a little."

The Gardevoir stepped up to me and smiled sheepishly. "That may have been my fault...sorry. I had to protect you, but I couldn't think of anything else to do, so I just released all my energy in a blast to stop the fight."

"Ah." I replied dumbly. I then looked around. "Wait, is everyone else okay?"

The Feraligatr sat down beside me and nodded. "Yes, everyone's okay. Your little friend ran off to town once things started getting heated, and those trainers all skedaddled once Geanne let loose her power." His voice was the deep gruff one I'd heard earlier.

I assumed that Geanne was the name of Gardevoir, so I looked at her and smiled. "Geanne...that's a pretty name." She blushed and I looked around. "Wait, where's the Blaziken we took away from that monkey turd?"

"Here..." replied a comparatively soft voice from behind me.

I turned around to see a very shy looking Blaziken, and from what Anthony told me, this is _very _out of character for a Blaziken...female or not. I let her approach me and I smiled. "Well I'm glad you're okay. What's your name?"

She shuffled a bit before letting a shy smile grace her face. "Um...my name's Tessa."

I smiled and nodded. "Well it's good to meet you, Tessa. First off, I just want to stress that here, you're an equal with me and all the others. No one is less than the other. I believe that Pokemon deserve to be treated with the same respect and care that humans are."

She looked at me a little confused, but then smiled. "I wish all trainers thought like you."

"Well I'm not a trainer. I guess I _used _to be, but I'm not anymore." I explained with a grin.

Geanne decided to speak up again. "Um...actually, you were the Pokemon League Champion of Kanto, Johoto, and Sinnoh."

I eyed her curiously. "Umm...I guess that's cool and all. Do I have a name?"

She nodded and reached into a bag she always kept with her, pulling out a card. It had a picture of me along with an ID number and...a name. "This is your trainer card; all Pokemon trainers have one. As you can see, your name is Timothy Allen Maxwell. You're originally from Kanto, which is where you met Brutus here." she said while motioning to the Charizard. "He was your starter - the first Pokemon you received."

I then asked the next logical question. "Do I have any family?"

Suddenly all the Pokemon around me looked a little sad, but Geanne kept speaking. "Well, you _do_ have an uncle out there, but the rest of them - your mom, dad, and younger brother - died in a cruise ship disaster."

She then reached into a bag that she always carried with her, revealing a newspaper clipping. I held it up and read it aloud. "Fifteen-hundred killed in S.S. Gyarados disaster. Authorities say a fuel leak lead to a massive explosion, killing most on board..."

I felt a tingly hand on my shoulder, and looked to see an uncharacteristic sad expression on the Haunter's face. "The people and Pokemon that died in the explosion were the lucky ones. The few that were left slowly froze to death in the water."

I took a deep shaky breath and let a tear fall before looking up. "Which ones...actually no...I don't want to know which my family was."

Geanne then continued. "That was _why_ you left to travel. After you caught the rest of us, Brutus told all of us that without a family, you didn't really have reason to stay in Kanto."

I sighed and slumped down a little. "Well...that sucks. So how did I end up at the bottom of this gorge...and better yet, where are we?"

Geanne reached into her bag again, pulling out some strange looking thing. She opened it up and inside was a little screen, with what looked like a map on it. She pointed to a blinking dot on the map. "We're here, at the base of Mount Silver near Blackthorn City in Johoto. Like always, you didn't listen to me when I said to be careful, and fell nearly all the way down the mountain. It was a miracle you didn't die, but somehow the only thing you got other than some bruises and scrapes was a nasty hit to the head. I guess that's what happened to your memory."

Brutus stepped forward next. "We patched you up the best we could, but the Chansey at the Pokemon center told us your memory might take a long time to come back, if it _ever_ comes back."

I could tell they were all worried for me, so I offered a grin to them all. "Look, you all don't need to worry about me. I'm fine, really. I mean, it's not like I can miss what I can't remember, right? Besides, I have you guys." I then cleared my throat. "Umm, speaking of that, I should get all your names. I don't want to just call you all 'hey you'."

The Feraligatr stepped up first. "Name's Gunnar, son. You 'liberated' me from a Team Aqua trainer that was using me and a few others to cause all kinds of ruckus in a peaceful town." He then ran his clawed finger along my neck, gesturing to a scar. "That's from me. Let's just say it took me awhile to warm up to you...but you kept at it. Thanks for that."

The Serperior slithered up and smiled at me. "Well, we met in Unova a little over a year ago. Professor Juniper was in trouble and asked you to pick a Pokemon from his bag and use it to save him. I was very impressed with your skill and care for Pokemon, expecially when you tended to the wounded Pokemon we had battled. The professor noticed this, and gave me to you. Somehow he thought I'd be better taken care of with you. My name is Jade, by the way."

The canine-looking blue and yellow Pokemon sat in my lap and smiled happily. "My name's Rina! We met along a grassy path, and you beat me fair and square...but it was a lot of fun, so I didn't mind!"

I nodded, and the Haunter stuck out his tongue with a grin. "Well, my name's Orpheus. We met at the Sprout Tower here in Johoto just a few months ago, actually."

Geanne glared at him. "He may not remember, but I do. You paralyzed me!"

Orpheus grinned and stuck his tongue out again. "What's the matter hun, can't take a little tongue-action?"

"Ugh! You're disgusting..." Geanne said with a huff of annoyance.

I just chuckled and leaned back against the tree by the spring again. I let out a breath of frustration. "You know, something tells me that we're going to hear from that trainer from earli-"

"Stop right there, thief!" interrupted a voice from behind me. I turned around to see a woman in a blue police uniform, an Arcanine by her side. I then recognized the blond-haired boy next to her as the trainer from earlier. The officer pointed to him and glared at me. "This boy has reported that you stole one of his Pokemon. Is this true?"

I stared unflinching at her. "Yes, I did."

She stared at me with a very confused expression. "That's it? No denial, no running? This is new."

I shrugged. "Well, in my eyes I've done nothing wrong. In fact, I've righted a wrong."

"How do you figure that?" the officer asked with a stern gaze.

I pointed at the trainer and snarled at him. "He was mistreating her, so I took her away from him."

The officer and her Arcanine glared at me. "That's a _very_ serious accusation, sir. What proof do you have of that?"

I looked at Tessa and gently smiled. "Tess, I have to give you back to him. He's your trainer, not me." She instantly shook her head and clutched onto me for dear life, fear in her eyes. I then turned back to the officer and her Arcanine with a smirk. "I'm pretty sure that reaction speaks for itself."

Obviously the Arcanine quickly realized the severity of the situation, because he then turned his fierce glare upon the trainer. He started growling out words that the trainer didn't understand, but I did. "What did you do to her, monster?"

The female officer stepped forward and placed a hand on his back. "At ease, Flare. We can't take him straight to jail if you maul him, now can we?" Faster than I could blink, the officer slapped cuffs on the boy and smirked. "Young man, you're under arrest for mistreatment of a Pokemon." The boy started to speak, but he was silenced by a slap to the back of the head. "You'll keep your mouth shut if you know what's good for you. You can do all the talking you want once we get back to the station." With that, the Arcanine started to herd the boy away, but the officer remained. She walked over to me with a somber expression and patted me on the shoulder, stealing a glance at Tessa. "That's a noble thing you did there, son. What's your name?"

"Timothy Maxwell, ma'am." I responded.

She then looked around at the Pokemon around us and sighed. "You have more than six Pokemon now. Regulations state you can only travel with six at a time." I lowered my head in defeat and sighed. She smiled at me, however and winked. "However since _technically_ you're not training now, and you're not traveling, we can consider these Pokemon your home group." She pointed to the cabin. "I'll write up papers with the mayor giving you legal residence here in the forest. That'll allow you to live here in peace with how ever many Pokemon you have. So long as you're not battling them, it's perfectly legal."

I nodded and shook the officer's hand with a smile. "Thanks a lot, officer..."

"Jenny." she responded with a grin.

I grinned back and nodded again. "Well thanks, Officer Jenny. I appreciate it...really. Why are you doing this though?"

She sighed and looked back at where the Arcanine and trainer had disappeared towards the city. "Because there are so many trainers out there nowadays that treat Pokemon like second-class. It's not fair to them." She turned back to me with a soft smile. "But you...you treat them like equals...like family, even. That's more than I've seen in a long time now. Call what I'm doing thanks, how about that?"

I stood again and shook Jenny's hand. "Sounds good, officer. I'll see you later then, I guess."

She nodded. "You will. Stay out of trouble, Timothy."

* * *

After Officer Jenny left and night fell again, Brutus and I set about fixing us all something to eat. I caught some fish and Gardevoir gathered berries and some wild vegetables, and Brutus set about cooking them up into two separate stews - one for omnivores/carnivores, and one for herbivores. Since Jade and Geanne were the only ones that didn't eat meat, the vegetable stew was quite a bit smaller in portion to the meaty stew, so they ended up eating first while the rest of us waited for the fish stew to finish. Rina lay her head down in my lap, and I ran my hand through the fur on the top of her head, causing little tingles to run through my fingers. She giggled and nuzzled against me.

Suddenly a thought hit me, and I gasped. "Wait, do I train any other Pokemon besides you all?"

"Oh yes, you have at least a hundred, last time you checked." Jade replied after swallowing a mouthful of soup.

My eyes widened. "A hundred? Where are they all?"

The tree I was leaning on jostled a bit as Gunnar leaned against it and plopped his bulk on the ground next to me. "Well they're all kept in what trainers call a 'Pokemon Box'. They're warped off to any one of hundreds of storage facilities until you need them. All you need to do is go to a PC in any Pokemon center and swap out the Pokemon you want to store with the one you want to withdraw. It's that easy, son."

I smirked at the large gator-like Pokemon. "Calling me 'son' makes you sound like an old man."

Gunnar grinned and chuckled. "Well let's just say I've got a lot of memories and a lot of experience."

"Dinner's ready guys, come and get some." called Brutus with a smile.

* * *

We finished up dinner and all went to bed, save for Gunnar of course, who chose to keep watch for a few more hours before he turned in. Gunnar preferred a small artificial pond that was outside, and Brutus chose to stay in a roost he'd built on the top of the house, with four solid wooden logs to support his weight and a thick layer of steel we'd salvaged that made up the actual alcove, so that he wouldn't burn the house down or something. The bunkroom was basically an assortment of different beds that I'd stitched together with Geanne's help, so that left just Geanne, Rina, Jade, Tessa, and myself, as Orpheus had chosen to go and stir up some fun with the late-nighters around Blackthorn City.

If only they were human, right?

Well, in all honesty, them not being human didn't really bother me...especially now that I could speak to and understand all of them. I mean, I already saw them all as people, but even with that being the case I did _not _have a thing for snakes, or canines for that matter...so that just left Tessa and Geanne.

'_Wait a minute...what the fuck am I thinking? This is wrong!'_

"Tim?" called a soft voice from the bed next to mine.

I turned my head to find myself looking at yellow eyes with deep blue irises. For having a beak, Tessa's face was oddly expressive, and I could tell she was both nervous and afraid at the same time. "What's wrong, Tess?"

She shifted a bit in nervousness before locking eyes with me again. "I-I was wondering if it would be okay..." she trailed off.

"Yes?" I said, urging her to continue.

She looked more nervous, but looked at me again. "Could I sleep with you? I just..."

I was a little taken aback, and tried not to patronize her for how cute it seemed. "Are you afraid that trainer is going to come and get you or something?" I was just joking of course, but she nodded. My eyes widened in realization of just how deep her wounds must go, and I couldn't help but feel a little tug at my heart in imagination of what must have done this to her.

She gulped and looked away from me. "I'll tell you someday what happened...but for now, c-could I..."

I just scooted over and patted the space next to me with a smile. "Come here, Tess. I'll keep you safe...we all will. He'll never hurt you again, and that's a promise."

The shy Blaziken scrambled over to the open space on the bed, and I immediately noticed the change in temperature as her high body heat was now next to me. I threw the covers off of me and and took off my shirt, opting to go shirtless so I wouldn't sweat. I then lay down again on my back with just a pair of shorts on, and closed my eyes. I lay quietly for a few seconds before I noticed a scaly, yet soft hand snake around my middle, and a warm presence press itself against me. I opened my eyes to see Tessa looking up at me, a little unsure.

"D-do you mind? I just..." she started.

I shook my head and lifted my arm out from between us, instead pulling it around her to rest on her side above her hip. "Really Tess, it's okay. I want you to feel safe, so if this is what does it, then it's okay. Just try and get some sleep now, okay?" I finally got to see her smile as she nodded, and she rested her head on my chest and I felt her strong muscles relax into my embrace. A few minutes later her breathing slowed as she fell into slumber, and I couldn't help but smile at how cute the image was. A few minutes later, I followed her into the realm of dreams.

* * *

I woke up a few hours later to find Geanne at my left side, leaving the three of us very little room to spare on the bed. Over the months, Geanne had taken to often joining me in bed. She explained to me today that as a Ralts and Kirlia, I used to allow her to sleep in my bed with me, so I guess it wasn't really a big change for her. Thinking about this very situation I now found myself in caused my mind to wander to what Anthony had told me.

Relationships between Pokemon and humans weren't illegal, but in most parts of the world it was a little taboo. By what Anthony had told me, Blackthorn City wasn't one of them...but nearby Mahogany Town _was_. Yet again, it wasn't illegal...but I still didn't want to rock the boat or anything. I mean come on...a guy living alone in a forest with Pokemon already is a little weird to an outsider. Add in a romantic relationship with a Pokemon or a few, and there's a huge can of worms I did _not_ want to open right now.

Still...I'd be lying if I said I hadn't thought about it even before I could understand them. Ever since I woke up with no memory, Geanne and I had been really close...which I take it means I was pretty much the same in my past with her.

And then there was Tessa.

I hated to think about it - as the very thought set my blood on fire - but it was pretty clear that she had been abused by her trainer in some way. Whether it was physical, mental, or Arceus forbid..._sexual..._remained to be seen. Anthony had been pretty clear about what a Blaziken's demeanor was usually like, so to see Tessa so broken, afraid, and insecure...it was unsettling. I must have made a hell of a first impression, though, as she seemed to place her life in my hands...and for some reason found safety and security in me. I get the distinct impression that these friends of mine know more about me than they'll tell me, but I'll try and force it out of them at a later time. For now, I'll just enjoy things for what they are.

Laying in that bed between Tessa and Geanne had me in a very relaxed state, and as both of them hugged tighter against me, I fell into peaceful slumber with a smile on my face.


	2. Ch 2: Lesson in a Dream

**A/N: Frostbreaker here with another chapter! I like where this story is going so far, and I'm starting to have some fun with it. Things are going to start pretty quick here, so try and keep up. Please R&R and let me know what you thought.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or original story elements associated with the Pokemon series, manga, or game. All rights go to their respective owners.**

* * *

Chapter 2: Lesson in a Dream

"Tim…"

"…"

"Tim, _wake up_!"

"…"

"Do it..."

Let me just say one thing…waking up to an electric shock is_ not_ fun in the least…but it definitely gets you going. It's like jump starting a car…literally. After I got past the momentary shock – both mentally and physically – I noticed a very pleased looking Rina standing next to my bed.

She looked at Geanne, who was next to her, and smiled. "I told you it would work." She then pawed at me and giggled. "Sorry about that, Tim, but you wouldn't wake up."

I groaned and sat up, rubbing my eyes. "I'd appreciate it if next time you tried tickling me first or something." I stood and stretched, popping my back a few times. "So why did you need to wake me up so quickly?"

"Your friend Anthony came by earlier and said that the mayor wanted to meet all of us." Geanne explained with a soft smile.

I grumbled. "_Great_, a public appearance. I can't wait." I then looked over all of them and sighed. "If we're not here, I can only have six of you with me. Anyone volunteering to stay behind?"

"I'll stay." said the normally playful ghost Pokemon. "Some meeting with the mayor sounds pretty boring to me, and it's not like I can have much fun during the day…too easy for people to see me."

I nodded and shrugged. "Alright then, I guess you can wait here then. Hold down the fort or whatever, I guess. We'll be back in a few hours at most…will you be alright until then?"

The Haunter rolled his eyes and sighed. "I can be responsible _too_, you know. I'm not going to burn the forest down or anything, if that's what you're asking."

I just chuckled and shook my head. "Well we'll hurry back so you don't get too bored."

* * *

I was wearing one of my last outfits of clean clothes as we walked into town, having cleaned myself off with some soap that Anthony had mercifully brought to me a week or so ago. The nearer we got, the more uncomfortable I became as people near the outskirts of the forest began to eye my group with curiosity and in some cases, fear.

Geanne must have noticed this because she laced her fingers in mine and squeezed, looking at me with a small smile. "It's okay, Tim. They're just people."

I let out a cynical laugh and shook my head. "Odd that a _Pokemon_ is having to reassure a _human_ that humans are safe."

Gunnar's clawed hand patted me on the back and he chuckled. "We've been around humans our whole lives, son. With your memory loss, this is brand new for you."

Luckily a few seconds after he said that, I saw a human I _did_ recognize.

"Timothy, over here!" the young boy called over. I was instantly at ease with a friendly human face, and walked close behind him as he led us to the city hall. A small crowd of people had gathered and followed behind us as we approached the building, and while it did annoy me a bit, I let it go for the time being. After all, I was still technically only a guest here, so I didn't want to be stepping on any toes.

When we arrived, a middle-aged slate-haired man was waiting for us. He looked about as professional as possible, wearing a full suit and tie, while I felt a little underdressed, wearing black jeans and a violet shirt with hiking boots and a jacket.

Luckily it seemed the man was rather laid back, as he waved cordially and smiled. "Welcome to Blackthorn City, young man. I've heard a lot about you from quite a few of the citizens here. I must admit, I found it a little hard to believe that a young man was living with Pokemon in the forest…especially at the foot of Mount Silver. There are many dangerous Pokemon around there."

I couldn't help but laugh at the irony of his statement as I pulled down the collar of my shirt revealing the long scar that ran from my cheek to my collarbone. I then gestured to Gunnar at the same time. "Gunnar here was the one that did this to me, Mayor. Any Pokemon can be dangerous if it's afraid or mistreated." Before he could say anything, I held up a hand to silence him, placing the other on the large crocodilian's hide. "But with some compassion and perseverance, they can also become our most trusted allies and friends. I trust Gunnar with my life." I then gestured to the rest of my group. "These are my friends and family…and any smart person – trainer or otherwise – could only be so lucky to have such a relationship with a Pokemon. There's a lot we can learn from them."

The man seemed rather impressed, and crossed his arms with a grin. "Well, it's unexpected for you to have this amount of compassion for your Pokemon."

I shook my head and gestured to my group again. "These aren't _my_ Pokemon. As I explained to Anthony, I don't _own_ them. They stay with me of their own choice. I've made it clear to them quite a few times that they can leave anytime they choose, and I won't stop them. The relationship I have with them isn't master to Pokemon, it's friend to friend."

The man tapped his foot and smiled. "That's very respectful, son. What's your name?"

"Timothy Maxwell, sir." I responded. I then gestured to each of my group. "This is Geanne, Gunnar, Brutus, Jade, Rina, and Tessa."

The mayor raised an eyebrow. "Those are rather unique names for Pokemon, Timothy. Did you come up with them yourself?"

"Umm no...those are their names." I responded softly.

The man's raised eyebrow didn't lower. "Oh? And how do you figure that?"

I looked at Geanne for guidance. She seemed to know what I was debating, and she nodded. "It couldn't hurt. Just tell him."

I nodded and turned back to the mayor. "Well...they told me."

Everyone of course looked skeptical, but the mayor was the only one to speak. "What do you mean they _told_ you?"

I sighed in frustration and rolled my eyes. "Just what I said...they told me. And no I don't mean that I've been with them long enough that I can get the gist of what they're saying...I mean that I can actually understand them as if they're speaking my language. Although I guess that since I can understand them, their language is my language now...or something like that."

As expected, everyone looked at me skeptically. "Forgive me if I don't believe you, son." the mayor stated.

I sighed again and looked at the Pidgey perched on his shoulder. "Okay you...tell me something that only he could know."

The Pidgey looked around before eyeing me. "Who, _me_?" I nodded. "Oh...well um...he keeps a rainbow tutu in his wardrobe. It has little pink frills on the shoulders."

I grinned and stepped forward, whispering in the secret in the mayor's ears. Of course, he gasped in surprise and I smirked. "Believe me now?"

He then turned to the crowd of people. "Okay citizens. I don't know how, but he _can_ understand all Pokemon...somehow. Let's just leave it at that."

"Hey, she's a shiny!" shouted a young voice from the crowd. It turned out to be a young boy with brown hair and ocean-blue eyes.

I raised an eyebrow in confusion. "What's a shiny?"

Geanne tapped me on the shoulder and gestured to herself. "Normally Gardevoirs aren't colored like me. If a Pokemon has an uncommon color, they're referred to as 'shiny'. 'Shiny' Pokemon are usually much more powerful than their commonly-colored counterparts, and often have special abilities that are unique to them."

I then turned back to the mayor and smiled. "Well sir, was there anything you needed from me? If not, I really would like to get back home."

He shook his head with a nervous smile. "Um, nope! We're good. Just be on your way. Thanks for coming..." He then leaned in close so that just I could hear. "And um...please don't tell anyone about..."

I nodded. "Don't worry, your secret's safe."

He nodded and gestured for me to go. As we all proceeded to leave, however, a large group of children and preteens swarmed us, interested in my friends. Questions ranging from where I met them to what their hobbies were bombarded all of us. Seeing as how the questions were aimed at the Pokemon, though, I simply acted as a translator…which was fine with me seeing as how I didn't really know enough about my past to tell the kids anything.

The rest of my group was handling this just fine – especially Brutus, who was surprisingly gentle and playful with the younger kids – but I could tell right away that Tessa was very nervous and was close to having a panic attack. I waved to my group to get their attention and gestured to Tessa. They all understood what I meant, thankfully, and I pulled her away while the rest of them continued playing with the younger kids.

"Tess…you okay?" I asked gently, with strong concern in my voice. I was aware now of just how mistrusting she was of strangers…which made a very clear question pop up in my head. For now however, I let it go and simply sat down on the edge of a small fountain, the tall Blaziken doing the same next to me.

She shifted a little nervously and sighed. "I-I'm sorry…all those people were just making me really nervous is all."

I gently placed a hand on her shoulder, noticing the softness of the feathers that covered her body(which I originally thought was fur). She turned to me and I smiled, attempting to comfort her. "It's okay, Tess…I get it." The question that was burning in my mind finally made its way to my lips however. "Tess…why don't you feel nervous around _me_?"

She leaned against me, resting her head on my shoulder. "It's because of how we met yesterday, actually."

"What of it?" I asked in confusion.

She smiled softly before continuing in a soft voice, "Because you _cared_ about me." She took a deep breath and I felt a surge of warmth radiate from her. "You didn't know me, and yet you cared enough about me to want to save me. My trainer's…well, _previous_ trainer's friends didn't even care about how he treated me. You were a complete stranger though, and you cared enough to want to do something about it."

I wrapped my arm around her waist and ran my fingers along the feathers of her side. "Well I guess that's just my mindset. Maybe I was different at one time, but seeing a trainer ordering Pokemon to do anything bothers me. I mean I understand that's the norm in the world, but that doesn't make me any more comfortable with it. Then there's the fact that it was pretty obvious you were afraid of him…" As I trailed off I felt her tense up a bit, but I just continued stroking her soft down feathers. "I'm not going to ask what happened Tessa, don't worry. You can tell me whenever you're ready…but I do want to know someday. Can you promise that you'll let me know what happened to you at some point?"

She looked up at me and nodded. "I will Timothy, I just need some more time is all…it hurts to think about, and I'm just not ready to tell anyone else yet."

I nodded, but still had a question I needed answered. "You don't have to tell me the story, but please answer me one question then: he didn't…do anything…umm…by Arceus, how do I say this without sounding like a tool…" I swallowed hard and just powered through. "He didn't _rape_ you or anything, did he?"

She gasped and shook her head furiously. "No, he didn't. Thank Arceus for that."

I couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. "I just had to ask if that's what it was. I had my suspicions, with you not really having a problem with physical contact – at least with me. I suppose it was just a fear of mine that I needed clarification on."

She straightened up and looked down. "Well, since we're talking about fears, I have one of my own…" She then looked at me with her piercing gaze. "You aren't going to leave or anything, are you?"

I raised an eyebrow and looked at her curiously. "Why would I do that? I mean I probably won't be living in this forest for that much longer, but that doesn't mean I'm leaving all of you, or _any_ of you for that matter. I'd prefer you come with me, if you want to that is. I've made it clear to all of you that you are perfectly capable and allowed to make your own choices about your life, so I'm not going to force you to do anything…but I'd be lying if I said I didn't prefer that you all came with me when I leave." I smiled at her and rubbed my hand along the soft feathers of her back. "You all are the closest thing I have to family now…and I want my family to stay close."

Her body heat increased a little more, and I could swear she was blushing when she looked at me. "_Just_ family?"

"What do you mean? I mean I guess I can understand if you don't feel close to us. We _did_ just meet after all…but still…you all are all I've got." I explained.

She shook her head hesitantly. "N-no, that's not what I meant…I…" She shook her head. "Nevermind…forget I said anything."

I shrugged smiled. "Okay…well you can tell me whenever you're ready, I guess." I then pointed to the rest of my friends. "Do you feel comfortable going back over there?"

She looked a little nervous again. "I-I guess. Can I stay next to you though?"

I stood and she did the same, and I held out my hand, which she took in her own. "I'll stay by your side for as long as you want me to, Tess."

As we walked back she smiled at me warmly. "Well what if I _always_ want you to?"

"Then I'll always be here." I responded simply.

She raised an eyebrow. "Where?"

I smiled back at her and squeezed her clawed hand softly. "Right here, Tess."

This time I was certain she was blushing, but she squeezed my hand back as well and walked with me back to the group. She didn't let go of my hand nearly the entire time, but this time she was more confident and was speaking quite a bit more. She even played a little bit with a younger girl who was giggling and calling her "pretty fire", which I couldn't help but grin at. I stayed no more than a few inches away from her the whole time, but eventually Geanne sidled up beside me.

"You're doing a lot of good for her, Tim. I can feel that she's a lot more confident with you around." the elegant Pokemon remarked.

I eyed her curiously. "What do you mean you can_ feel_ it?"

She giggled and nudged me. "Gardevoirs are 'embrace' psychic Pokemon. Our natural abilities allow us to feel the emotions and intent behind them of those in our immediate vicinity." She then pointed at Tessa with a smile. "I don't know what you two spoke about, but she's happier than she's been in a long time. I can't sense her past…but somehow I know that what she feels right now when you're around her is stronger than anything she's felt before. It's something you make all of us feel. Security, respect…and love." She entwined her four-fingered hand in mine with a smile. "It's why we choose to stay by your side, Tim. You treat us not like Pokemon…but like people."

As she squeezed my hand lightly, I nodded. "Thanks Geanne." I then looked at her pleadingly. "Was I like that in the past?"

She averted her eyes and sighed. "No…this is new. I…I can't tell you about your past. I'm sorry."

"Why not? What's so bad about it?" I responded, my tone becoming one of agitation now.

She shook her head and sighed again. "I'm sorry Tim, but I made a promise. It's not my place to say. You know I'd do anything for you, but I can't do this."

Now I was thoroughly confused. "What promise? What are you talking about?"

She still didn't look at me, but squeezed my hand tighter. "I promise that everything will be revealed with time, Tim…but not now, and it can't be me. Just _please_ trust me."

I realized at that moment that this was what had always given me the feeling she was hiding something. She knew my past, I was sure of it…but she couldn't tell me for some odd reason. Was she being threatened? I didn't know…but she was right. She'd never given me reason not to trust her, so for the time being at least, I'd do as she asked.

"Okay Geanne, I'll trust you on this. If you say this is the way it needs to be, I believe you." I answered with a small smile.

She nodded and released my hand. "Thank you, Tim. Like I said, all will be revealed with time."

Satisfied with this answer, I nodded. "Alright then. I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm starved."

A voice spoke up from behind me. "Well, I believe I can help with that." I turned around to see a cyan-haired woman my age. She wore a black cape along with a blue sleeveless jumpsuit and boots. She stepped forward and extended her hand. "My name's Clair, and I'm the gym leader of Blackthorn City. Dragon Master Lance is stopping by today, so I've prepared a feast of sorts for him and his Pokemon. There's more than enough food, however, and something tells me he'd want to meet you. Interested?"

I shook her hand firmly and smiled. "Well I'm Timothy Maxwell, and if you're offering, then yes…I'm interested."

The woman released my hand and clapped hers together in excitement. "Great! Well stop by in about an hour and we'll have everything ready for you all." She pointed to the large building in the distance. "It'll be at the gym, so don't be late." With that, she left towards the gym, leaving me and my group to our own devices.

* * *

The hour passed pretty quickly, and as soon as the clamor from us being in town died down, we headed towards the gym to meet this "Lance" guy. The walk there was pretty uneventful, though I did notice a few wild Pokemon staring curiously at us all. I wasn't surprised though. After all, from what I'd seen, trainers generally don't walk around with their Pokemon out like I did, so I guess I was an oddity in more ways than one. Thankfully, none of them seemed to be aggressive, so I let it go.

We arrived at the gym to find a massive table filled with different kinds of food, with a large number of different dragon Pokemon staring at me curiously. I shrugged off the stares and headed towards where the people were, the whole way hearing muttered conversations from all the Pokemon around us. We soon arrived at a small tent next to the gym, and I beheld a huge dragon. This one looked like the others I had seen, but instead of being orange with little tendrils coming out of his head, he was yellow with horns and was also several feet taller than me. The dragon was glaring at me until a man with fiery red hair appeared behind him. He wore a black cloak like Clair, but also wore a very regal-looking suit, like the kind befitting royalty.

He patted the enormous Pokemon's side and grinned. "Easy, Drake…he's a friend." The dragon relaxed with a smile and the man stepped forward, extending his hand for a handshake. "My name is Lance, and I'm known as the Dragon Master. You must be Timothy, correct?" I nodded and he smiled, releasing my hand. "I thought so. You've made quite the impression on the city so far, and it appears you are another of the Awa-"

The dragon named Drake bumped his shoulder against the man and shook his head. "Not yet, Lance."

When the man nodded, I immediately knew what was going on. "Wait a minute…you can understand Pokemon too?"

The man groaned and cursed, realizing his slip up. "Yes…yes I can. You aren't the only one in the world, Timothy…not by a long shot."

"You really don't know how to be subtle, do you?" Drake said, admonishing the Dragon Master.

Lance shrugged with a smirk. "I'm a warrior, Drake. Subtlety isn't my strong suit."

Drake chuckled and rolled his eyes. "That's obvious." The dragon then turned to me. "I guess since the Meowth's out of the bag, so-to-speak, I might as well introduce myself. I'm known simply as Drake, patriarch of the Johoto Dragonite clan. It's a pleasure to meet you, Timothy." The dragon extended his clawed hand, which I took and shook firmly.

I then turned my gaze to Lance and raised my eyebrow in curiosity. "So what was it you were saying before Mr. Drake here interrupted you?"

The man looked at the large Dragonite and the dragon nodded back. Lance turned to me with a smile. "Well, you are what's known as one of the Awakened. What's an Awakened? Well, I think it would be better to let Drake explain that to you."

The large dragon stepped forward and smiled. "Timothy, once upon a time thousands of years ago, the great creator, Arceus, chose to split off existence into Pokemon and humans…" When my eyes widened from the realization, the dragon nodded. "Yes…humans and Pokemon were once one race of beings. I do not know the specifics of why exactly the race was split, but it had something to do with a great battle of some sort. All the ancients do know is that it was because of that battle that Arceus decided to separate the race into two entities." I was about to speak, but he held up a clawed hand to silence me. "I was about to get to what that means for the Awakened. You see, since there were now two where once there was one, a way to keep the two races connected was needed…and so the Awakened were born. An Awakened is a human – or more rarely, a Pokemon – that can speak the other race's language. There are other…perks…but I'll allow you to discover those on your own."

Saying that I was surprised would be a massive understatement. Here I am, a mere day after being able to suddenly understand Pokemon, only to find that I'm some sort of human ambassador for Pokemon now. It was overwhelming, to say the least.

I regained my composure and cleared my throat. "Well…that's a lot to take in. Well what do I have to do now?"

The Dragonite shrugged. "You do whatever comes naturally. Just follow your instincts. Fate will place you where you are needed."

"But what if-" I was cut off by the dragon again.

"Don't worry about it, Timothy. By simply doing what comes naturally to you, you've already done so much good. You've shown this town the potential between Pokemon and humans, and have already given quite a few of your friends a bright outlook ahead of them." He pointed at Tessa. "Do you think the boy that you saved her from showed up by accident? No…the fates chose that moment and chose _you_ to save her. I cannot say why, but yet again…you need not change anything about yourself. Simply follow your instincts and trust yourself." The dragon then walked behind me, introducing himself to all my friends while Lance pulled me aside.

"Timothy, I want to let you something about being an Awakened...something that is going to change your physical appearance, and I figured I should let you know so you don't freak out." He then pointed to his magenta hair. "An example here would be that my hair used to be brown, and my eyes blue. With these changes are going to come some odd things...things I can't explain. All I can tell you is to prepare for some weirdness." He then cleared his throat. "There is one more thing. Just...keep an open mind."

I raised an eyebrow. "Keep an open mind? What the hell does that mean?" My eyes then widened and I shoved him away. "Dude, I don't sway that way!"

He chuckled and shook his head. "You need to work on your ability to understand cryptic speaking, because that wasn't what I meant _at all_."

I laughed nervously, now feeling like a jackass. "Oh, heh. Sorry about that, I just thought...forget what I thought. I'm hungry, are you hungry? Let's eat."

* * *

Okay...now no offense to Brutus because he's an awesome cook...but the food was fucking delicious. I was probably the happiest I've ever been from food alone, and I didn't even care that I'd eaten almost as much as Gunnar. Eventually though, the night began to come and so we ended up all sitting around by a bonfire near my cabin, as Lance and Drake decided to join us with some alcohol. Strange part is, I wanted to have some...but I of course couldn't remember if I'd ever had any before.

Let's just say my body remembers things my mind doesn't.

The next thing I know, I'm sitting on the ground surrounded by ten or so bottles of beer watching Lance do his impression of a Magikarp's "Splash" attack. Needless to say, I am rolling on the ground in laughter at this point, holding my sides in pain because of how hard I've been laughing. Drake was just standing against a tree watching, until he finally stepped forward with a grin.

With practically no effort, he picks up Lance and slung him over his shoulder. "Alright you two, I think you have had more than enough fun tonight. Lance, we're going home." The Dragonite then turns to me with a smirk. "Don't have _too _much more fun, Timothy. Goodnight."

I waved haphazardly at him with a grin. "G'night, Drake!" To me, I was just having a happy fun time...but what I hadn't noticed was that the entire time we were sitting there talking by the fire after Lance and Drake left, I had been getting very handsy with two certain female friends of mine...okay fine, my two _only_ female friends. I cannot be blamed though. I mean, have you ever _felt_ a Blaziken's feathers? They're like the softest thing _ever_. That and the fact that I could tell she absolutely _loved _it. I mean, moans are pretty self-explanatory, right? Right. Geanne too, seemed to be enjoying herself, as she was hugging me pretty much the entire night. I _did_ think it was strange that she talked about emotions and all that when she told me she was an 'embrace' Pokemon, because I always kinda figured that 'embrace' meant 'hug'...but now I guess 'embrace' made sense. I found the skin of her thigh unbelievable soft and supple(don't ask me how my hand ended up there, because I couldn't tell you), and even in my drunken state, I was surprised she didn't stop me.

* * *

Gunnar, Brutus, and Jade must have gone to bed awhile ago, because when I made my way to the cabin with Geanne and Tessa, the place was completely silent. Of course, I didn't really notice, because I was currently liplocked with Geanne, while fondling Tessa's firm rump. As bad as it sounds, one of the first things I had noticed about the Blaziken when I met her was how oddly feminine her form was compared to what I would expect of a Pokemon, and my hand now agreed with me whole-heartedly...or whole-handedly. Something like that. There was of course a little voice in the back of my mind warning me of how much I was going to regret tonight in the morning, but the alcohol kicked that voice in the chest and pissed in its mouth.

Thank you alcohol...thank you.

When I fell to the bed with my two partners, I didn't even have time to right myself before I was mounted by a very warm body. The cool of autumn made her body a gift from Arceus himself, and I ran my fingers through Tessa's feathers along her inner thighs, causing her to moan and rub herself against my lap. Geanne lay down beside me and started kissing my neck, while Tessa finally leaned down and kissed me a few times tenuously. I will admit, it was odd trying to make it work with her beak and all, but then a loud voice within my head steeled my resolve.

_'Don't be a bitch...make it work.'_

And so...I complied.

* * *

Some time later, I left was gasping for air as sweat covered my entire body and I even felt a little lightheaded...but then again the fire Pokemon laying on top of me was also panting madly, letting out soft moans with each breath out. My shirt had been long since discarded, leaving me in only my shorts...which also meant I felt the heartbeats of Tessa against my skin. Geanne was laying by my side pressed against me, having removed her dress what seemed like ages ago(did you know that dress wasn't _part_ of a Gardevoir? I sure as hell didn't). She was also breathing rapidly, though she was coherent enough to speak something...something that even in my drunken and exhausted haze, I still recognized as _very_ important. She looked into my eyes with hers of gold and smiled before saying something that would change my life.

"I love you, Timothy."

Love. Not like..._love_. It felt like a fire had been set to my very soul, and I felt wave after wave of comfort and inner warmth flow through me. I smiled at her and leaned in to receive another kiss from her, replying in a soft but dedicated voice, "I love you too, Geanne."

I had been absentmindedly massaging the back of Tessa's thighs, and I only noticed this when she moved her body to lay on my chest. I drew my hand away and she moaned a bit. "Mmm...don't stop, Tim. That felt good." Not wanting to disappoint my bedmate(that and the fact that she was twice as strong as me..._not_ a good idea to disobey), I continued as she sighed and shivered a bit, settling onto my chest as she slowly fell asleep. I was apparently starting to sober up a bit, because I was clear enough to think of how odd it was that such a shy girl was so..._spirited..._with me.

I simply brushed the thought away and enjoyed the warmth she gave as my eyelids became heavier and heavier, and while I hadn't fallen asleep yet, I did close my eyes. As I did so, I felt my busy hand getting dangerously close to a certain area of Tessa's. I caught myself and cursed to my dirty mind, instead planting my hand well above the area, on her lower back. I then felt Geanne shift and lay her head on my shoulder, her strangely cool breath causing a shiver as it hit the beads of sweat on my neck. I completely relaxed at that point, submitting myself to the world of dreams...though perhaps a dream had already become reality.


	3. Ch 3: Fire and Ice

**A/N: Howdy there y'all! Frostbreaker here with another fun chapter for my faithful and loyal fans. As always, please R&R and let me know what you thought.**

**To BRONYatHEART – Thank you for thinking so highly of my work…it means a lot.**

**To Bondage Fluttershy – Well dear one, I appreciate the praise and I'm glad you're enjoying it. There will be lots more to come, so please check back every now and then and enjoy!**

**To Flamesinger599 – Glad you like it, man. D'awww is a bit of a specialty of mine, so prepare for more d'awww-ness…or is it d'awww-idge? I don't know…d'awww-something.**

**Music choice: The albums ****_Ignite – EP_****, ****_Renegade – Single_****, ****_Shockwave – Single_****, ****_Solar – EP_****, and ****_Wipeout – Single_****, all by Noisestorm. Nothing like some smooth dubstep/drumstep to ease the mind.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or original story elements associated with the Pokemon series, manga, or game. All rights go to their respective owners.**

* * *

Chapter 3: Fire and Ice

"Ugh…why!?" I groaned to no one in particular as I woke. My head was pounding with the intensity of a jackhammer, and I couldn't for the life of me remember why. All I knew was that I had to piss like a motherfucker, so I tried to sit up. Upon doing so, however, I was restrained by what I thought was an unseen force…but then I saw the force doing it. As I looked down, I noticed two arms keeping me held down, one of the softest white, and one of bright red up to the mid forearm, and then grey and scaled the rest of the way.

I recognized both of those arms…

I looked to my left and right, seeing the two very pleased-looking sleeping faces of Geanne and Tessa. They both smelled very strongly of sweat and pheromones, and even in my groggy and hungover state, it was pretty clear to me what had happened.

_'Great…just fucking great. You're a moron, Tim.'_

I was somewhat pleased that my shorts were still on, as that meant that I hadn't done anything completely moronic, but that wasn't going to reduce the awkwardness of the situation at all. I mean on one hand, I was feeling horrible about what had happened. Not only had I taken advantage of both of their now-obvious feelings toward me, but I had also had intimate relations with both of them. My mind was telling me I was sick and depraved…that doing that to them made me not only a monster, but a sexual deviant.

That aside though, I was also having a different thought…one that was slowly gaining momentum and strength. This new thought was unnerving, but at the same time comforting…and the words that it was causing to reverberate through my mind were not my own.

"Keep an open mind."

Of what I could remember yesterday, I distinctly remember Lance speaking those words to me. At first, I had no idea what he was talking about, and accidentally misinterpreted what he was trying to tell me. Now, however, it was making sense…albeit in an odd and fucked-up kind of way.

At least that's what I was telling myself.

So now I was at a crossroads. It went without saying that I was going to have to talk to the both of them about this…but to what end? I mean I had promised myself I wasn't going to do anything like what I had done last night with them because of the possible ramifications of it all, and the reason I had made that self-promise was because I did find the both of them attractive in a number of ways. It seems that now, however, the demon that is alcohol made the decision to break that promise for me. What bothered me the most was that I didn't feel bad about what the three of us had done…and _that_ was what made me feel bad. I knew I _should_ feel shitty about the actual act, but I didn't. It felt right, and even now with me battling myself, I couldn't help but feel secure and loved in their grasp.

Before I could continue to berate myself, I heard a soft hum from my right, and Tessa's eyes fluttered open as she woke. She sat up and stretched, and I couldn't help but admire her powerful, yet feminine figure. She then looked down at me and smiled warmly…and at that moment my mind was made up.

This _could_ work.

The next face I saw, however, was one of crankiness from Jade. She was rubbing her eyes with her tail and yawning a few times. She then glared at me. "The next time the three of you decide to have fun, please buy us some earplugs. You may be able to function just fine on three hours of sleep, but I need a full eight."

I chuckled nervously and nodded. "Will do, Jade. Sorry."

She grumbled and shook her head. "Apologize after I wake up some more. Right now, I'm an inch away from using my stun spore on you."

I wasn't sure what "stun spore" was, but I would rather not tempt her at the time. Somehow, it didn't sound good, and I still had a headache from hell.

"Mmm…Tim, lay back down. I'm still sleepy." Geanne's soft voice said from beside me.

As much as I wanted to stay in bed with her(because now that I'd come to terms with myself, I had no problem with that in principle), I needed to wash up. "Geanne, I really would love to just stay in bed with you, but I smell like a foot right now. That and I need to start figuring out what we're going to do from here on out."

The mentioned Gardevoir sat up with a yawn and looked at me quizzically. "What do you mean by that?"

I shrugged. "Don't get me wrong, Geanne, I love it out here in the forest…but this isn't the best place for you all. I need to get us to a place where we have running water, electricity…all of that. This also means I need to find a career somewhere."

"Yeah. I wasn't going to say anything, but the whole 'roughing it' thing doesn't really work for me. I'm happy you came to your senses." Geanne replied with a smirk.

I looked at her curiously, confused by the statement. "Umm…before I 'caught' you, weren't you living in the wild?"

She nodded. "Yes, I was, but Gardevoir society is very advanced as far as Pokemon civilization. The only things we don't have are running water and electricity. We build homes, and in some cases even have governing entities depending on the size of the society. And no, I can't tell you where you'd find one of these settlements. Sorry."

I shrugged and smiled. "Fair enough. Well I have to be honest, I would really like some air conditioning or something. It's getting pretty muggy here. A normal bath would be awesome too." I then looked at the rest of the Pokemon, which had gathered during the last few minutes. "What do the rest of you think?"

Gunnar shrugged. "So long as there's some water nearby, I'm fine."

Brutus spoke up next, a smile on his face. "I'm alright with pretty much anything, so long as I have room to fly."

"I would very much appreciate some shady trees to rest under. While basking in the sunshine, I need somewhere to cool off as well, and I'm not the best swimmer, so…" remarked the grass snake.

I looked at the ethereal ghost Pokemon and he just shrugged(if you can call it that). "So long as there's some nearby people or Pokemon to mess around with, I'll be good."

I then looked at Rina, who just smiled. "As long as I get to come with you, I'm happy."

Lastly, Tessa looked at me with a warm smile. "As long as I can come with you, I'm happy as well."

I nodded at the collective answers and smiled. "Alright then, the 'ayes' have it. I'll start looking for a job so we can build or buy a house on some open land with some sort of water nearby, plenty of open space to fly in, and a few trees. I gotta say, I'm pretty excited about this." I tapped my finger on my chin in thought before grinning. "And I think I know just the career choice I'd want to do. I only hope it'll be open."

"Really now? What's your idea as far as work?" Geanna asked.

I shrugged. "Well, helping Pokemon and their trainers. I mean let's be honest, there probably aren't many people out there with the same idea of friendship between Pokemon and humans, but that doesn't mean that has to be a bad thing. There's also the fact that most humans have trouble understanding what their Pokemon want most of the time, so I can help with that. I want to someday see a world where Pokemon and humans are equals, so I have to start somewhere."

Geanne raised her eyes up at the ceiling in thought before bobbing her head and smiling. "That could actually work quite well. When will you get started?"

"As soon as I can. I mean, I'd get started today if I could, but we need to clean things up around here and I need to wash my clothes and whatnot. Today is going to be chore day, so let's get cleaned up, get some breakfast, and then let's get crackin'." I replied with a determined look. My friends all nodded, and we got to work.

* * *

The day passed very quickly for me, and because of the help I was receiving allowed us to move much faster than I thought we would. It wasn't even four in the afternoon when we finished, so I went to the nearby river to wash off the day's sweat and dirt. I removed my work clothes and set the clean outfit a ways away from the water, then grabbed the soap and waded into the river. Luckily, I'd found the current here wasn't very strong, so it allowed the current to wash away the soap without washing away me.

I was just cleaning off my face when I heard someone approach from in front of me. I dipped my head under the water to wash off the soap and opened my eyes to see Tessa standing there with a grin on her face.

"I never thought water would make you look more handsome, but it does. I like your hair like that." she said, grinning the whole time.

I was now a little nervous, and tried to cover myself. "Umm…I'm a little naked here, Tess. Do you mind?"

She giggled and shook her head. "No, I don't mind at all. Go right ahead."

I did a 'shooing' motion with my hand. "No, I mean can you leave until I'm done? My nudity is not something I want to expose you to right now."

She blushed and smiled again. "Well I'm naked all of the time, technically. Does that bother you?"

She had a point…but now that I was aware of that fact, it just made me feel more uncomfortable. My body wanted desperately to respond to the thoughts that were now running through my mind.

Let's just say thank Acreus for cold water.

I sighed and shook my head. "Well I guess you do have a point, Tess. What did you need?"

She pointed at the river. "Well, I need to bathe too. The water weakens me, so I won't be able hold myself against the current on my own."

I stared at her. "You can't be serious."

She nodded. "I am, actually. I'd be lying if I said I won't enjoy it a little, but I also don't want to end up downsteam. It goes without saying that I can't swim…" She then lowered her head in shame and fear, "and it actually scares me a little."

Dammit…why can't I just say no to her?

Her fear had overcome my own modesty, and I sighed in defeat. "Alright Tess, fine. Come on in and I'll make sure you don't get swept away or anything. We're just washing though, okay?"

She nodded and stepped towards the water, holding her hand out to me. I grasped her clawed hand tightly as she started to wade into the water, planting my feet to provide as much support as possible. As she did so, she let out a hiss of pain along with a whimper, and I grasped her hand tighter.

"Tess, are you okay?" I asked in concern.

She nodded. "Yes, I'll be fine. Still water doesn't bother me, but when in movement it causes a little pain. Give me a few seconds to get used to it and I'll be okay." I forced a comforting smile to her and she waded deeper into the water until she was next to me. She ground her beak and grunted a bit, but finally she let out a breath and smiled. "Okay, I'm fine now. Thanks for baring with me there."

I finished washing myself and then stood behind her to support her in case she lost her balance or something, but as soon as I grabbed her waist to support, she moaned loudly and started panting a bit. She looked back at me and grinned sheepishly. "You might want to just hold onto my shoulders or something else, as the water makes my nerves hyper-sensitive. That's how type advantages work, in case you were wondering."

I nodded and moved my hands to her shoulders instead. She sighed happily at my touch, but it wasn't the full-blown moan of a few seconds ago. Thankfully because of the natural oils of her feathers she didn't have to use soap, and simply ducked down to let the water flow over her. Again, she winced a little in pain as the water rushed by her sensitive skin, but she held firm and I pressed against her back with my whole body to make sure she wouldn't fall and get hurt or something. The fact that this was in no way intimate was kind of awkward, at least to me, but Tessa didn't seem to mind it at all. After all, as she'd so gently pointed out, she was naked all of the time…so this more than likely didn't bother her at all.

Luckily for her, bathing was a quick affair, as she stood a few seconds afterwards and smiled. "Ah…that was surprisingly refreshing after I adjusted." She then turned around to look at me and hugged me tight…causing a certain part of my body to tingle in excitement.

Yet again…thank Arceus for cold water.

"Thank you, Tim. I know this was strange for you, and I appreciate your help." she explained, rubbing her cheek against mine in affection.

Now to her perhaps this was completely innocent, but having my bare skin pressed against her was causing the dirty part of my mind to alight with activity…and I suddenly found my hands having a mind of their own. I couldn't help but run my fingers over the damp feathers of her powerful body, and she let out a close-mouthed moan of pleasure. The water had made her feathers stick to her body, and so it just looked all the more feminine in form.

To put it simply, she was gorgeous.

At this point, my rational mind gave up and just receded into darkness…and Mr. Mushroom took over from there. Interested in finding just how sensitive she was, I reached down her back and squeezed her firm behind tightly, causing her to sharply gasp and dig her claws into my back. In some distant corner of my mind it hurt a bit, but I didn't give a shit at this point…so I responded by lightly biting her shoulder, causing her to scream in both pain and pleasure.

It would have been great, except apparently that was too much for her and her body temperature skyrocketed, causing me to rear back in pain and curse loudly. When I pulled back, she almost fell headfirst into the water, and had it not been for her quick reflexes of grabbing an overhanging branch from a tree, she would have. I on the other hand simply stood a foot away and ran cold water over my hand, which was quickly turning red from the burn.

She gasped and looked at me in shock. "Oh no…I'm sorry, Tim. I swear by Arceus I didn't mean to."

I waved my good hand to silence her and smiled. "It's okay Tess…I shouldn't have gotten you so heated. Umm…apologies for the bad pun."

She averted her eyes as I stepped out of the water and ran a cloth over myself to dry before putting my clean clothes on. I then reached out and grabbed her hand, leading her up and out of the river carefully.

She then released my hands and smiled. "You might want to stand back a little." I did as she asked and watched as steam started to rise from her body. Even from the five or so feet away that I was, I could feel intense heat radiating off of her. In a few seconds she was completely dry, and her clean feathers were shining in the late-afternoon sun.

I smiled and rubbed her arm softly. "My, what a beauty you are."

She looked away in embarrassment and giggled. "Thanks Tim…but we should probably get back to the cabin now."

I nodded and grinned, holding out my hand for her to take. "Alright then, let's go." She gently took my hand in hers and we walked back hand-in-hand to the cabin.

* * *

When we arrived back on site a few minutes later, everyone was grinning at us…even some of the Pokemon that were regular visitors in the wild, namely a duo Sneasel who had been eyeing me since we took up residence in the forest.

I looked around with a confused expression and spoke out loud, "What?"

Brutus grinned wider and snorted a laugh. "We heard you…or more specifically, _her_."

I just facepalmed while Tessa blushed madly. "Well fuck…" I sighed and raised my hand in defense. "In case you're wondering, no…nothing happened. I didn't know that water made her so sensitive and I accidentally braced my hands against her in an extra-sensitive area."

This just made Orpheus laugh. "Oh really? And what area would that be?"

"Her hips, gutter-mind." I retorted.

Geanne then looked curiously at the blushing Blaziken. "Tessa, why didn't you just ask me for help with bathing?"

I turned to Tessa and furrowed my brow in confusion. "Yeah, why _didn't_ you just ask Geanne?"

The Blaziken looked down in embarrassment. "W-well um…you s-see the thing is…"

"I knew it, you planned that." I said with a grin.

She sighed and threw up her hands in defeat. "Okay fine, I planned it. For the record though, I actually _did_ need to clean myself. I didn't plan much of anything until I saw you were already there, though."

I chuckled and nudged her lightly. "Well, you earn an A for improvisation. I had no clue." I then looked at the rest of the group and smiled. "You all can go ahead and laugh about this…I'm sure I will be later on."

* * *

At my behest, they all did start laughing, so I just chuckled to myself and sat underneath a tree that overlooked the lake behind the Blackthorn City gym. My hand felt like it was on fire now, however, and I was fighting to keep from running back to the cold water to dip it in and cool it off.

"Need some help with that?" came a voice from above me.

I looked up to see the two Sneasel who must have lived somewhere close eyeing me with curiosity. "Umm…I guess. Question is, what's your idea of help?"

The smaller one hopped out of the tree and landed next to me, a grin on its face. "Well, you do know we're part ice-type Pokemon, right?"

This one was obviously a female, and with how closely she stuck to the other one, I assumed she was its mate, friend, or sister. At her explanation though, I smiled and nodded. "I do now. If you could make a block of ice or something to rest this on, I'd be your best friend."

She giggled cutely and shook her head. "I can't do that, but I can do _this_." She took my hand in her clawed paw, which was now incased in a cloudy white-blue aura. The cooling effect was immediate, and while normally this might be a little cold for me, it felt amazing on the burn.

I sighed and nodded. "Ah…thanks _so_ much."

The other Sneasel hopped down and sat down next to its companion, a smirk on its face. "You just wanted to hold his hand, didn't you?" By the response and tone of voice, it was clear this was a male and was not the mate of the one holding my hand.

She giggled and shrugged. "He's pretty cool. Not many nice trainers around here. At least not since…" she trailed off with a sad look, but still held my hand in her icy embrace.

I noticed the immediate change in demeanor and became concerned. "Not since what?"

The two Sneasel looked at one another and then back to me. The male sat down in front of me and sighed sadly. "Not since our trainer."

"You have a trainer?" I asked, now confused as to why they were alone.

He just stared at me with a pained expression. "Not anymore."

That only left a few options…and with the both of their expressions being so depressing, that only left one explanation. "He died…" I said simply.

A few tears slid down the cheek of the female holding my hand, and she nodded. "It was up on Mount Silver a few weeks ago." She choked down a sob, and let her companion continue.

"He was hellbent on capturing a Skarmory, and looked for weeks to find one. Unfortunately for him, he found it..." he said as he trailed off with a tear of his own.

It was a saddening story for me. These two Pokemon obviously held a very strong bond with their trainer, and had lost him to a wild Pokemon. I imagined it must have been hard for them, as now they had nowhere to go and basically no purpose. I felt for them, in more ways than one…and I was now determined to make things better for them.

I took my free hand and brushed away a tear from the female, getting her to look at me. "Hey. I've seen the two of you hanging around a lot, so if you wanted to I don't know, stick around…you're more than welcome to." I brushed the feather-like protrusion on the female's head with a smile. "And before you ask, no…I'm not trying to capture either of you or anything. Something just tells me you could use a friend or two to help you out. We have more than enough room, so if you're willing…"

The male stood up and leaned against the tree, a pained cough escaping as he fought to keep from crying. "It's been so hard out there for us. He raised the two of us from eggs, so it's not like we can just live in the wild all of the sudden. The wild Sneasel and Weavile call us traitors for having a trainer, and most trainers are too set on just catching the bigger better Pokemon to care about us." He then looked at me and smiled sadly. "If you're offering though, my sister and I would love to stay with you guys until you get sick of us."

I shook my head and smiled. "I don't throw away a friendship if things get hard…that's something a lesser human would do. So long as you two aren't purposefully mean or violent, you are both welcome to stay for as long as you want. If you want them, you'll always have friends here."

The female released my hand, and it felt a lot better now. She then smiled at me and nodded, though frozen tears streaked down her face. "Thanks. This means a lot to us." She then scaled the tree quickly, rummaging around the branches for a moment before hopping back down. She carried two Pokeballs in her hand, both sporting a yellow circle on the left and right side and a little lightning bolt on top, in addition to the normal colors. She handed them to me with a smile. "You should hold onto these then. That's mine and my brother's Pokeballs."

I nodded and tapped both buttons, making them shrink in size so I could carry them in one hand. "There's something you should know about me then, before you make your final decision. I treat all of my Pokemon the same way that humans treat other humans. Well…at least the _good_ ways. We're all equal here, and no one is worth more or less than the other. Respect, and you'll be respected. Also, I will never force you to fight if you don't want to. Is all of that okay with the two of you?" Both of them nodded without hesitation, and I smiled widely. "Well then…welcome to the family. What're your names?"

The male stood and smiled, pointing to himself first. "Well I'm Donahue," he then pointed to his sister, "and this is Darcy."

I shrugged. "Donahue and Darcy…okay. Well you're going to have to give me some time to work out who's who, because besides the slight height difference, you look exactly alike."

Darcy shook her head and pointed to her chest, which showed a large scar that went diagonally across it. "This was from one of my first battles. You can use it to tell me apart from my brother."

I chuckled. "It's a good thing you're not my height, or else I'd think staring at your chest was lewd and indecent."

She cocked her head in confusion. "Why?"

"Because human females have breasts…and that's considered offensive to stare at them." I responded with a smile. Darcy opened her mouth in an 'oh' expression from the realization, and I nodded. I then stood up and examined my hand with a smile. "Well thanks a lot for the ice-treatment, Darcy, I really appreciate it. Now…how about we go meet the rest of my friends, hm?"

* * *

We walked back to the group next to each other, though I had to walk slow considering the height and therefore leg length difference(they were just a little over two feet tall, whereas I was six foot even). As soon as we came out from behind the cabin, Jade eyed me with a smile.

"Made some new friends, have you?" she said while gathering some berries from the trees for dinner.

I nodded and gestured to the two, respectively. "This is Darcy and Donahue. They're going to be staying with us. Is that all right with you guys?"

As I expected, no one disagreed. Brutus then lumbered over, causing both of the Sneasel to cower in fear. He eyed them in confusion. "What's the matter? I'm not going to hurt you."

Darcy held onto my hand tightly, hiding behind me. "W-we don't do so well with fire Pokemon. They hurt us."

I shook my head and pointed at the massive dragon with a smile. "Well you don't have to worry because this guy right here is probably the coolest guy to be around if you're a friend. I promise he won't hurt you. Back when I was a trainer, he was my starter. We've been together a long time, and I trust him with my life."

"You're not a trainer anymore?" Donahue asked, now confused.

I shrugged. "I mean I have a trainer card and I hold the title for League Champion in a few regions, but I don't actively pursue the ambition to be the best trainer out there. I'm having a better time being friends with my Pokemon and giving them the best life I can."

Darcy released my hand and stared at me, mouth agape. "You're the League Champion?"

I nodded. "I _was_, I don't know if I still _am_. I was champion in Kanto, Johoto, and umm…Sinnoh I think." The two small Pokemon gasped and I smiled down at them. "Anyway, you should have no trouble making friends with Brutus. He's not some monster and he's actually very gentle. I promise he won't hurt you."

"And if he does, I'll blast him with a hydro pump." Gunnar said from behind me.

I nodded. "Yeah, what he said."

Brutus smiled and knelt down to the two smaller figures, having a warm smile on his face. "We're going to start dinner soon, but I'll need your help with catching some fish. I can't go in the water, so do you think you can lend me a hand?"

The pair of Sneasel finally nodded and smiled, Darcy being the one to finally speak. "Okay, we'll help!"

He grinned as they sped off towards the river. I then looked over at the orange dragon and grinned as well. "We both know you don't need help catching fish, as you're a master at it. Why ask them to?"

He looked off into the distance and smiled at the two retreating young Pokemon. "I heard what you two were talking about by the tree. They need something to take their minds off of it, and it always does a mind and soul good to help someone else and work for something."

I patted the larger Pokemon on his thick hide, smiling as I watched the siblings fishing in the distance. "You're a lot smarter than I give you credit for, Brutus."

He chuckled in his deep bass voice and nodded. "I have my moments. Anyway, you might want to go see Geanne and Tessa. Seems they're having some girl talk about you, and they were looking for you a few minutes ago."

Gee…I wonder what this could be about.

* * *

I walked over to a clearing in the trees where the psychic and fire-type Pokemon were talking, causing them to look up at me with smiles when they saw me. "Hey girls, what's up?"

Geanne approached me with a sultry grin. "We were just wondering…how much of last night do you remember?"

I sighed and couldn't help but look a little disappointed. "Not an Arceus-damned thing after I started drinking. Please don't _ever_ let me drink that much again."

Geanne giggled and looped her arm around mine, holding herself close to me. "You never were able to hold your alcohol well."

I shrugged. "Well that just makes me cheap to get drunk. Anyway, why do you ask if I remember anything?"

The Gardevoir now looked a little disappointed. "Oh…no reason."

I rolled my eyes and lifted my arm out of her grasp, instead hugging her close against me. "Come on, tell me or I'll tickle you or something."

"You wouldn't…" she retorted.

I grinned and poked her in the side, causing her to recoil with a short giggle. "You going to tell me or do I have to get more handsy?"

She looked up at me worriedly. "You promise you won't get mad?"

I nodded. "I don't think there's anything you could tell me that would make me mad…unless of course you're saying that I suck as a friend and you're leaving me for another trainer. I'd get a little mad then."

She shook her head. "I promise it's nothing like that…it's just…"

"Just say it, Geanne." the Blaziken said from beside me.

The mentioned Pokemon fidgeted nervously for a moment before surprising me with a deep kiss. My eyes shot open in shock as she did so, but I only froze for a moment before starting to enjoy it. Her lips were so soft and delicate, and I feared that by simply pressing too hard I might tear them…but I couldn't help myself. I pressed into the kiss and she wrapped her arms around me, and I did the same with my free arm. After a few moments we broke apart and she looked up at me with her beautiful golden eyes.

"I love you, Tim." she said softly, as if saying it too loud would cause the very words to shatter.

I have no idea what happened, but all of the sudden memories from the night before I thought lost in a drunken haze rushed back to me, as if by magic…and when it happened, I knew what to say back to her confession.

I brought a hand up to her face and cupped her soft white cheek, looking deep into her sparkling golden eyes. "I love you too, Geanne."

As I said my piece, two warm and powerful arms enveloped both myself and the delicate form I held against me. I looked to the smiling face of Tessa, only to have her nuzzle her beak against my cheek and Geanne's hair.

This moment…right here…was what all those poor sods were missing. All those trainers that simply look at their Pokemon as tools instead of friends…I felt pity for them, and pity for the Pokemon.

This moment was what life was about.


	4. Ch 4: The Legends

**A/N: Frostbreaker here to bring you another chapter of this uber story! Hope you enjoy. Please R&R and let me know what you think.**

**The next chapter will be mixing things up a bit as far as perspectives, but for this one I'll keep it simple. Just thought I'd prepare you is all.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or original story elements associated with the Pokemon series, manga, or game. All rights go to their respective owners.**

* * *

Chapter 4: The Legends

The next month passed pretty quickly for all of us, and we were now in the process of moving. I had found a place to start my career as a Pokemon Behavioral Expert, so we were transporting what little possessions we had to the plateau surrounding Cianwood to the extreme southwest. It was a nice area that had everything we needed, so even though it was considered far-removed from normal society, it didn't bother me much…but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't excited about having electricity and running water, as well as a real bed.

We had already gone and built the house and set everything up a week or two ago, meaning as soon as I had money flowing in we'd have electricity and water. That wouldn't be too much of a pain, of course, because I'd been living by the bare necessities for the longest time. All the same, it would be a nice change of pace, and I could tell all of my friends were excited.

Anthony had also started his Pokemon trainer journey, and had received a Cyndaquil from Professor Elm in New Bark Town, and the young trainer had blazed through the gyms(no pun intended). He already had four badges in a little over two weeks, and was steadily gaining strength and skill. Normally a trainer would bother me, simply because of what he or she was, but Anthony was different. Along with skill and battling prowess came a deep-seated love and care for his Pokemon, and for the first time since losing my memory, I was proud of a trainer. He had shown that even as a trainer, it was possible to have compassion for Pokemon. Like me, he had shown the potential for a relationship between humans and Pokemon, and I hoped that with his higher visibility in the world, he could enact a stronger change in it.

At the moment though, I was more focused on getting my house set up.

With great gratitude, I'd taken a parting gift from the mayor of Blackthorn, which mostly consisted of some clothes, linens, toiletries, and cookware. I couldn't help but chuckle when I realized it was almost as if I were moving out of my parent's house for the first time(though I couldn't remember what that was like). And so, I was now putting the last of the supplies away with Geanna, while the rest of the group scouted the area to see exactly what we had to work with.

The shiny Gardevoir closed up the closet that was now full of bed linens and smiled at me. "Ah…this is so much better. This feels like a real home now…no offense to the cabin, of course."

I chuckled and wrapped a hand around her waist as we both looked out the window that overlooked the ocean. "Well, this is our new home now. I'm sure you'll enjoy it quite a bit more, and there's bound to be all kinds of different people and Pokemon to meet around here. Hopefully I'll start getting work soon so we can upgrade this place."

No sooner had I finished the sentence than a knock came on the door. I was confused as to who that could be, as I didn't think anyone knew where I lived yet. Cautiously, I made my way to the door and opened it, instantly smiling when I saw who it was.

"Tony! By Arceus it's been awhile." I exclaimed while taking his hand and pulling him into a man-hug.

He chuckled and returned the hug before breaking away and smiling. "I know. It's good to see you're doing well, though. Anyway, I was here in Cianwood to get my next badge and I hear a certain human that lives with Pokemon – namely a shiny Gardevoir. I figured it could only be you, so I headed over here to say hi." Geanne came up from behind me, and shook his hand, causing him to smile. "Well hey there, Geanne. I hope you're taking good care of this guy." Geanne nodded and smiled.

I eyed the boy with curiosity and looked at the belt that he wore, sporting six Pokeballs. "So, why don't you introduce us to your friends, Tony?"

He nodded and grabbed the first one, enlarging it and throwing it forward. In a flash of white light, a blue and tan Pokemon with flames on his back popped out.

Anthony pointed at the Pokemon and smiled. "This is the Pokemon that Professor Elm gave to me. I just call him by his Pokemon name, Quilava." The boy then shifted nervously. "That's actually part of the reason I came to see you. I didn't want to name any of my friends, because I wanted to use the name they had for themselves. I feel like it would be wrong to name them if they already had a name."

The Quilava looked at his trainer curiously. "How is he going to learn my name?"

I smirked and tapped the Pokemon on his head, causing him to look at me. "Because I can understand you, that's how."

"R-really? You know what I'm saying?" it asked.

I nodded to the two-foot Pokemon with a grin. "Yes, I do. So…what's your name?"

The Pokemon smiled and couldn't help but let out a yip of excitement. "My name's Aden! It's good to be able to talk to someone that's not a Pokemon!"

I looked at Anthony and smiled. "I like this guy, he's got a ton of energy. He says his name's Aden, by the way."

"Hey Tim, what's going on?" shouted Brutus' loud voice from behind Anthony. Aden and Anthony turned around to see the other eight Pokemon approaching, and for some reason this instantly put Aden on edge.

I reached down to the small Pokemon and rubbed his back softly to calm him, causing him to look up at me. "Aden, they're friends of mine…all of them. Don't worry, you're not in any danger."

This seemed to relax the small fire Pokemon, and he waited with me as all my friends approached. Gunnar was the first to arrive, and he just smiled at me. "Well, it's good to see you already have company, and a friend at that." He then slapped the boy on the shoulder gently and smiled, and while Anthony couldn't understand him as I could, I could tell he knew it was a friendly greeting because he responded with a pat on the large water Pokemon's hide.

* * *

We spent a few hours chilling out with Anthony and his Pokemon, which also included a Venomoth, an Umbreon, a Lanturn, a Steelix, and a Primeape. I was surprised at just how powerful and loyal his Pokemon were, but then again, it _was_ Anthony. He didn't share my distaste for battling, but he still held a large amount of compassion for Pokemon, which I was okay with. I could tell that his companions cared a lot about him, so I let the whole 'trainer' thing go.

As the midday came around, Anthony left to go challenge the gym leader in Cianwood, so we all said goodbye to the up-and-coming trainer and settled back into our new home. It seemed today was not the time for rest, however, because as soon as he left, another young trainer stepped up next.

She was a young redheaded trainer with smooth tan skin and green eyes. Just from looking at her, I could tell she was a traveler that had seen a lot of Johoto, at the very least. She sauntered up to me with a grin, stopping a few feet away when she saw all of the Pokemon gathered around me.

"I take it you must be Mr. Maxwell, right?" she asked, though I felt it was pretty obvious.

I nodded. "That's me. What's up?"

She responded by tossing out a Pokeball that revealed a large red Gyarados. The Pokemon roared and looked down at his trainer with a sigh and roll of the eyes. The girl then motioned to the large water dragon with a small frown. "He's unhappy, and I don't need to be a behavioral specialist to know that. Problem is, I can't really figure out why. Care to help?"

I shrugged. "Well I'm more than happy to help, but this _is_ a business. Still…you're my first client, so I'll give you a discount. How does 3000 Pokedollars sound?"

She nodded and smiled. "Sounds good to me. Should I just leave him here with you?"

I looked at the large Pokemon and he nodded, so I turned back to the girl. "He seems to want to talk to me alone, at least for now. Give me your number and I'll give you a call when we're ready for you, okay?"

She nodded and went about giving me her phone number, which I put into my PokeGear. With that, she left the Gyarados with me to talk about whatever it was that was going on. Needless to say he seemed pretty apprehensive, with being told that a human could talk to Pokemon, so I decided to break the ice.

I stood up and smiled, trying to be as comforting as possible. "Well, my name's Timothy Maxwell. To answer your inherent question, yes…I can understand you if you speak."

"Really?" the Gyrados responded in a deep growl of a voice.

I nodded. "Really. So, let's start with something simple…what's your name?"

Once the Pokemon realized I could actually speak to him, he smiled(for the record, a Gyarados' smile is creepy, even though it's meant to convey happiness). "Well, my name's Dirge."

"Nice name. It suits you, somehow." I added with a smirk. I then sat down against a tree and looked up at Dirge with a smile. "Okay, so what's going on?"

The large water dragon sighed closed his eyes. "Well I just feel that my trainer doesn't trust me. It seems that she's actually a little afraid of me, at least when I battle. And…it hurts. I didn't ask to look this way."

I nodded in understanding. "I see…so you don't want to fight?"

He shook his head. "No no no…don't get me wrong, I_ love_ to battle. I mean, it's my passion…I just don't want my trainer to be afraid of me because of it."

Thankfully, I could tell this would be an easy fix for him. I smiled at the deceptively ferocious-looking Pokemon patted him on his thick hide. "Well, this should be easy to handle. I mean, the only thing that seems to be causing this is the fact that she doesn't know how you feel about the whole thing. All we have to do is make sure she knows that you don't want her to be afraid of you simply because of your battle prowess. I mean, you do care about her a great deal, yes?" Dirge nodded. "Well, we'll just tell her that. Problem solved."

"Do you really think it'll be that easy?" he asked.

I nodded. "I do, actually. The largest problem here is that she can't understand your speech, and so doesn't know what you're saying when you want to try and tell her not to be afraid, or that you worry about her or whatever. She needs to know that, so I'm going to make sure she does." I then picked up my PokeGear and made the call for the trainer to return, and proceeded to wait with Dirge.

The trainer arrived ten or so minutes later with a wide smile on her face as she approached. "So, did you fix things?"

I shrugged. "Thats for the two of you to work out. If you're asking why he seemed down, it's because he doesn't want you to be afraid of him."

"W-what?" she asked, now utterly confused.

I rolled my eyes and gestured to the large red Pokemon. "He's not stupid, miss. He knows you're afraid of him. He just wants you to love him and care about him like you would any other 'cute' Pokemon. It's not fair to him to treat him differently simply because he _looks_ like he could rip your head off with a glare."

For the first time since I'd met her, the young girl now looked remorseful as she looked at her powerful friend. "Dirge...is that how you really feel?" The misunderstood Pokemon nodded sadly, letting a pained sigh out. The girl then walked up and hugged him tightly, letting a single tear fall. "I'm so sorry...I didn't know." She then sniffled and looked up pleadingly at him. "Can you forgive me for being so blind? I'm so sorry..." Dirge then wrapped his long body in a gentle hug around his trainer...and even without words, she could tell it was forgiveness and the promise of a new life for the two of them.

After a few minutes in each other's embrace, the girl un-tangled herself and walked over to me, handing a roll of four-thousand dollars to me. I looked at her incredulously. "Umm...it's only three-thousand, ma'am."

She shook her head with a smile. "No...you earned it." She then shook my hand tightly and pulled me into a hug. "Thank you so much, Mr. Maxwell. Had it not been for you, I might have driven a good friend away because of my own lack of care." Upon releasing me she walked to the Gyarados and smiled, looking back at me. "You're going to be rich in more than just money at this rate, Mr. Maxwell. I'll be keeping an eye on you."

After the trainer left with her reconciled friend, Tessa grasped my hand in hers, getting me to look at her. When I did so, she smiled warmly and looked affectionately at me. "That was a great thing you did, Tim. You probably just saved a great friendship...and I'm so proud of you right now."

I couldn't help but feel warm inside. That feeling...right there, was why I was doing this. The money was just to make sure I could give us a good home, food, and comfort...but if those things were provided to me, I'd gladly do this job for free. Let me say right now, there is no greater feeling than playing a hand in the reconciliation of two friends.

* * *

The day waned on, and soon I was finding myself relaxing on the beach in the late afternoon with a few of my group. Orpheus was in town somewhere seeing what trouble he could stir up and Brutus was off soaring through the open air of his new home, but the rest of us were all relaxing at the beach. Despite being ice/dark Pokemon, Darcy and her brother were great swimmers, and were currently playing with Gunnar in the surf of the cool ocean. Rina was strangely calm and chose to simply bask in the warm afternoon sun, Jade of course joining her. This left me, Tessa, and Geanne to relax on the warm sand, just enjoying the salty ocean air and the relaxing atmosphere of it all.

Somehow Geanne was able to psychically alter her dress, instead turning it into a mid-thigh length skirt…Tessa of course opted to simply go au natural. The townsfolk were just meeting me, however, so they were at first unnerved by the fact that so many powerful Pokemon were simply walking around and enjoying themselves. The adults were hesitant, but a small group of younger children were brave enough to step forward to me and the Gardevoir and Blaziken by my sides.

A little blonde-haired girl stepped up and looked around at all the Pokemon that were now staring at her. "Wow…are these all yours mister?"

I shook my head. "I don't own them, young lady. They're my friends, not my property."

This caused one of her two friends, a brown-haired green-eyed boy to smile. "You can be friends with Pokemon?"

I nodded and smiled. "So can you." I gestured to the two by my side. "This is Geanne and Tessa. You can say hello to them, they won't bite."

Geanne of course was very happy to greet the children, but as I expected, Tessa was a little more reticent to do so. I felt her hand grab onto mine and I squeezed it lightly with a reassuring smile. "Tess, it's okay. They're just little kids, they're not going to hurt you. Not that I'd let them anyway."

The third child – a little girl with strawberry-blonde hair and green eyes – smiled at Tessa and giggled. "Wow…you're really pretty, Tessa." Said Pokemon blushed, but smiled at the little girl. She extended one of her hands in greeting and the girl took it gently, shaking it. "It's nice to meet you. My name's Julie." She then pointed to her two friends. "This is Matthew and Carol. Do you want to play tag with us? You look like you're really fast!"

Tessa looked at me nervously, but I just smiled. "Tessa, they just want to play…I promise you'll be okay. I'll be right here keeping an eye on you the whole time."

She still looked a little nervous, but nodded and let herself be led away by the small girl named Julie. Next to approach us was who I assumed was the girl's mother, as she held very similar facial characteristics, as well as hair color and eye color.

"Are you sure that Pokemon will be okay with her? I just fear for her safety is all." The woman remarked.

I smiled and nodded. "I'm positive. Tessa may look like a danger, but I assure you, she's definitely not." I then pointed to Gunnar, who was still playing in the surf with the two Sneasel. "If you can consider one of them dangerous, it would be him…but even so, he's just protective of me. I can assure you with the utmost confidence that so long as no one tries to hurt me or them on purpose, no one is in any sort of danger. I trust my friends deeply, and hopefully with time, so will you."

The woman looked in the distance at the Blaziken who was playing with her daughter. "She seems very…shy. That is not something I've seen in a Blaziken before. Was she…"

I nodded. "Yes…she was abused. I don't know how yet, but it was by her previous trainer. I met her in Blackthorn City a while back, and her trainer tried to force her to fight when she clearly didn't want to. I could see the fear in her eyes, so I had Orpheus – my Haunter friend – procure her Pokeball from the trainer. Upon investigation by the local policewoman there, I was granted custody of her. I hope she'll tell me someday just what happened to her, but I'm not going to force it out of her. She'll tell me when she's ready."

As I expected, the woman looked at me with confusion. "What do you mean she'll _tell_ you?"

I rolled my eyes and stood up, cupping my hands around my mouth to project my voice. "For anyone that might ask now or in the future, yes…I can understand Pokemon. My name is Timothy Maxwell…I'm the guy that moved here recently." I then sat back down next to Geanna and looked at the woman with a shrug. "Does that answer your question?"

She still looked confused and proceeded to sit down next to me. "You can understand Pokemon? I'm not sure what you mean…do you mean that you can understand how they feel and such?"

I shook my head. "No…I mean that when they speak, I can understand them as if they're speaking Common to me. Before you ask, no…I'm not really sure why. That's why I chose to be a Behavioral Specialist for Pokemon, because I can do a lot of good with this ability."

She now looked suspicious. "I'm not sure I believe you…that's a pretty tall tale, and I've heard some whoppers in my life."

I sighed and turned around. "Alright, you go ahead and make some sort of face or gesture and Geanna will tell me what it is."

The woman chuckled and I imagined shrugging. "Okay, I'll humor you I suppose."

Geanne was silent for a moment before responding. "She's sticking her thumb on her nose and fanning her fingers out and wiggling them."

"That's not a very nice gesture, ma'am." I responded.

She crossed her arms. "Well okay, Mister Maxwell, what was I doing?" I repeated her gesture the same way, and her mouth dropped open. She held the silly expression until she finally found her voice, speaking in a shaky voice, "W-well, I am officially seeing something new. I am utterly surprised now."

I smiled and shrugged. "Well I had much the same response from the people of Blackthorn, so it's no biggie. Anyhow, I never got your name."

The woman suddenly realized her lack of manners and composed herself. "Oh, I apologize Mr. Maxwell." She extended her hand and I shook it. "My name is Tabitha Corella. I run the local PokeMart here in Cianwood."

"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Corella." I replied, releasing her hand with a smile.

* * *

The rest of the day went pretty smoothly, mostly meeting with most of the townsfolk and a few of their Pokemon, while my friends enjoyed the carefree atmosphere. I had some odd feeling that things weren't always going to be like this, so I made sure we enjoyed it…and I did. Tessa especially had a lot of fun with the local children once she got over her fear of them, and was laughing and playing tag with them on the sandy beach. It made me smile to see her letting go and enjoying herself with others, and I made a promise to myself to someday get her back to being the confident Pokemon I knew she could be.

Everything was as relaxed as it could be until a feeling welled up inside of me, almost ordering me home. I didn't know what it was, but I started to move of my own accord towards home.

"Timothy, where are you going?" Geanne asked as I got up.

I smiled and ran my hand through her soft hair. "I'm just heading back to the house for a moment. Can you keep an eye on things here until I get back?" The Gardevoir nodded, so I stood up and brushed the sand off of myself before walking up to the winding stone stairs that lead up to the plateau where my house was.

When I arrived at the top, I had the same odd feeling that was pulling me towards home, so I obliged and walked to where the feeling was strongest, right behind my house. As soon as I did so, a large figure materialized out of nowhere before me…and by large, I mean _huge_.

It was a Pokemon to be sure, but not one I recognized. It had a body almost entirely of white save for a cobalt-blue stomach and dark blue ridges along its eyes, as well as dark blue flaps along its back. Its wings ended in fingerlike protrusions, and although the being was formidable, I got the oddest feeling of comfort from it.

"Greetings, Timothy Allen Maxwell. I have waited long to meet another of the Awakened." it spoke with a deep and commanding voice.

I raised an eyebrow in suspicion. "Umm…the pleasure's mine, but who are you?"

The creature bowed, placing one of its wings across its chest and closing its eyes. "I am Vincent, known to the world as Lugia – Guardian of the Seas."

I pursed my lips and nodded. "Ah, so you're the protector of the Whirl Islands. A lot of the people around here think you're just a myth."

The Legendary nodded and smiled. "Yes, and I prefer it that way. I enjoy my privacy and would appreciate it if you did not tell any others about me."

"What about my friends…do they count?" I asked.

He shook his head. "Pokemon are my kin, and I am sure they would like to know that I am alive and well. You may tell them of me if you wish."

I nodded. "Alright then, so what do you need from me?"

The large Guardian smiled warmly. "Nothing at the moment, Timothy. I simply wished to introduce myself and advise you that you can soon expect the other Legendaries to seek you out as well."

"Umm…why is that?" I responded, now confused as to why a bunch of legendary Pokemon were going to be looking for me.

Vincent responded with a gentle smile. "As an Awakened, your calling is to act as a connection between humans and Pokemon, as I am sure you know. However, you will also act as a sort of ambassador for the Legendaries. The reason for this is because first of all, most of us cannot communicate directly with humans, but more importantly, any trainer worth his salt would attempt to capture us. This would not normally be a problem, as I have seen the care and respect that most trainers show to their Pokemon allies, but most Legendaries control some sort of force in the natural world…and the removal of them from their charge would have devastating effects on the world. For example, I am the Lord of the Seas, as well as a sort of peacemaker between the three Legendary birds of fire, storms, and ice." The Pokemon then sighed. "To put it simply, Timothy, we all need your help to keep balance in this world. With that said, I will be off and allow you to continue your day of rest." As he prepared to fly away, he then turned back and smirked at me. "And tell Gunnar that Vincent says hi." The Pokemon then became transparent, and I could barely see him take flight towards the Whirl Islands.

Although left in a bit of a daze from meeting one of the Legendary Pokemon of the world, I slowly made my way back to the beach, to find that someone had buried Gunnar up to his neck in the sand as he slept. I couldn't help but chuckle at the sight, and made my way over to him. I nudged him gently, getting him to open his eyes with a grunt.

I then smiled down at him. "Hey Gunnar…you're never gonna guess who I just met."

* * *

After explaining everything to him, he jumped up and smiled. "You met Vince? By Arceus, I haven't seen him since I was fresh out of the egg! How was he?"

I smiled and patted my friend on the side. "He was just fine, Gunnar. He did tell me, however, that I can expect the other Legendaries to be making pilgrimages to come see me at some point, so in addition to my new career that I'll be doing, we can expect a lot of company."

He eyed me with a grin. "I thought you wanted things to be nice and quiet."

I shrugged. "Trainers are what bother me…Pokemon, not so much. So long as they don't plan to do anything stupid, I don't mind in the least."

No sooner had I said that than that same familiar feeling I had with Vincent caused me to want to head home. This time, however, I turned to the rest of my friends. "Hey everyone, let's head back. It's getting late and we need to make supper before it gets dark."

As we walked back, Geanne held my hand and smirked. "I know there's something you're not telling us, so spill it."

I chuckled and nodded. "Well, you're right. First of all, I met Lugia."

All except for Gunnar gasped, but Geanne was the only one who actually answered. "Y-you met the Guardian of the Seas?"

I nodded. "Yeah, he was pretty cool, and apparently Gunnar knows him from way back when." Before Geanne could question the Feraligatr I stopped her. "Later, Geanne. Anyway, I knew someone was waiting for me simply because of a feeling that told me to go home. Well…I just had the same feeling, so I'm sure we're about to meet someone else."

As we rounded the house towards the back – where we couldn't be seen from the coast, Brutus landed in front of me. I just smiled to him before turning towards seemingly empty space. "Alright, it's just us here. You can show yourself."

As soon as I said that, a figure shimmered into sight before me, but I noticed it was not one being, but two. The smaller one was a pinkish-white feline sort of Pokemon, with small arms and large hind legs. It looked oddly childlike and innocent, especially as it rested its head on the shoulder of the other, its tail wrapped around the other's waist.

The other was much taller and was a pale white, with purple on its lower abdomen, leading back onto a purple tail. This one looked much more fearsome than its companion, and held a stern look of apprehension, contrary to its companion.

The smaller of the two released its grip and flew over to float right in front of me, its body glowing in a soft pink light as it did so. "So, you're the new Awakened, hm?"

The voice matched its appearance – very young and bubbly, like a young girl. I simply smiled and nodded. "I am. My name is Timothy Maxwell. I have already meat Vincent, Guardian of the Seas. Was he the one that spoke of me to you?"

The Pokemon nodded with a cute smile. "He was. I'm called Taika." She then pointed to her companion. "And he's Amory. Come and say hi, Ammy."

The stern Pokemon stepped forward, not breaking its wary gaze on me. "I will be honest, Timothy Maxwell, I do not trust you. However, Vincent has told us you _are_ to be trusted, so I will tolerate you…for now."

I rolled my eyes and stared at him. "Well it's pretty clear that humans have screwed you over, am I correct?" He simply nodded. "Well…I'm sure you and Tessa – the Blaziken – would get along great. She also holds apprehension towards most humans for reasons she hasn't told me yet. Safe to assume they're not good, though."

The smaller Pokemon then motioned to the two of them. "Anyhow, I am known as Mew, while he's Mewtwo." She then looked down in shame. "You should know that part of the reason why Amory doesn't trust humans is because he's a clone…of me. Horrible experiments lead to his birth, and his life as a whole has been just one human trying to use him after another." She then whispered in my ear, "Just give him some time…he'll come around once he sees you're different."

Amory then stepped forward with his same stoic expression. "Anyhow, we have come to meet the new Awakened, and we have done so. Stay alert…we may have need of you at some point." He then turned to the Mew with a smile. "Come Taika, it's time to go." As his companion made her way back to him, he turned to me and dropped the smile. "Until next time, Timothy Maxwell."

They both disappeared in a flash, leaving me temporarily blinded. Once my vision returned, I turned to Geanne with a sigh. "That Amory guy doesn't seem to like me much."

* * *

As night began to take hold, we all pitched in for dinner. I had already started a small orchard of different berry trees growing in the area behind the house, so we had a reliable source of food and medicines there. Tonight, however, we settled for some edible mushrooms that Jade had found in the cave nearby, as well as some fish we caught and potatoes I'd bought.

As Brutus stood over the two large pots over the fire, I eyed him with curiosity. "Hey Brutus, I've been wondering for awhile just where you learned to cook."

He chuckled and continued stirring the two broths. "From you, actually. It's one of the first things you taught me when we started travelling together."

"Ugh…out of all the things that I _do_ remember, that couldn't have been one of them? That's moderately depressing." I retorted.

The Charizard didn't reply, but instead set about serving up the two stews into ten bowls. He then set them on a table we'd built and banged the side of the pot with the large ladle. "Alright everyone, come and eat!"

Dinner was a quiet affair for me, as I simply ate slowly and listened to the different conversations between my friends. I was pleased that the Sneasel siblings were getting along so well with the rest of the group, and Tessa had really opened up as well. I was pretty pleased with how things were turning out so far, but hopefully tomorrow or the next day I'd be able to go and see what this "Pokemon Box" thing was all about, as I felt bad leaving potential friends in a state of suspended animation off in some warehouse somewhere.

Still…right now I was tired, and that was for another day.

* * *

I stepped into my new home and after cleaning off in my new shower(free month of running water for new citizens, courtesy of the Blackthorn mayor. Yeah baby!), I prepared for bed. The set up for this house was actually quite a bit different from the old cabin, as I now had my own room, as did most of my friends. Orpheus of course didn't have one, because I don't think he even sleeps, and Brutus actually prefers to sleep outside, as does Gunnar. This had made construction of the house much more simple, and allowed for a few more modern amenities, namely a workout room(don't want to get flabby), a TV(which will work once I get the electricity turned on), and a modern kitchen.

As I made my way to my bedroom – which now had a _real_ bed – I couldn't help but think about how much had happened in the span of only a day. Reconciled with a good friend, got my first client, met three Legendaries, and had my first modern shower.

All in all, a great day.

As I had said, _most_ of my friends had their own room…but Rina, Tessa, and Geanne were not included in that. The Blaziken and Gardevoir preferred to sleep with me(for obvious reasons), and Rina would always curl up at the foot of my bed, feeling more comfortable being able to hear me breathe, for some odd reason. I didn't mind though, as it made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside, and not because of Tessa's inherent warmth.

It was only when I lay down between the fire and psychic Pokemon that I realized exactly how exhausted I was, barely getting out a 'goodnight' before my eyes started to feel heavy, and I soon slipped off into peaceful slumber.


	5. Ch 5: Unleashed

**A/N: Hey there everyone, Frostbreaker here with another update for ya! I had a hell of a lot to cover this chapter, so it's nice and long for all of you. Read and enjoy, and don't forget to review!**

**To Flamesinger599 - Well you have to remember that with no memory or the natural reverence that Pokemon have for the Legendaries, Tim sees them just as cool people. Great and powerful people, but people nonetheless.**

**To Shadow Cloud 5283 - Legendaries are always around us...and you will see that they all have a large part to play coming up soon. Stay tuned!**

**To SneakyDevil - Thanks. Here's the next update!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or original story elements associated with the Pokemon series, manga, or game. All rights go to their respective owners.**

* * *

Chapter 5: Unleashed

There is no greater feeling than waking up between two lovely bodies with a sweet little electric Pokemon nuzzling your face. Well…maybe the smell of bacon cooking would be awesome, but that could come later.

I chuckled and pet the head of Rina, who was licking my face. "Heh, someone's feeling lovey this morning. What's the occasion?"

She giggled as I stroked the yellow fur on top of her head. "No reason. You said you didn't want to be shocked again, so I thought I'd try something a little more gentle."

"Well I appreciate the light approach." I responded, along with a scratch of Rina's ears. I then looked outside, noticing it was still dark. "Umm Rina, what time is it?"

She giggled and hopped off of the bed, somehow not waking Geanne or Tessa. "It's about five in the morning. I thought we could go for a walk like we used to." She then looked down in shame. "Oh…I forgot that you don't remember that…"

I gently climbed over the sleeping psychic and stepped onto the floor. I then shook my head at the youthful Magnetric with a smile. "No it's okay, Rina. Let's go for that walk."

At my response, the canine-like Pokemon bounded towards me with a wide smile, prancing around happily. I chuckled at her behavior, noting that even with being an evolved form – and thus more mature – she still had a bubbly youthful personality. I quickly took a shower and got dressed before walking out the door with Rina by my side.

* * *

I found myself walking along the beach with the electric Pokemon, watching as she bounded in and out of the surf that was crashing on the shore. We soon happened upon a large outcropping of rocks that overlooked the ocean to the west, and sat upon them while we waited for the sunrise.

"You know Tim," she started, "we used to do this back when I was just an Electrike. By Arceus, that was years ago." She then looked down, a little sad. "I know it's not your fault because you didn't remember, but I really missed this for the longest time. It was the only time I could really just spend time alone with you."

I reached over and ran my fingers along the soft, short fur of her back. "Well I'm sorry, Rina. I wish I would have known sooner. You know me well enough to know that I want all of you to be happy and feel loved."

She smiled and laid her head on my lap, rubbing her chin on my thigh. "I do, Tim. I mean, with what you've gone through, you could have been a really bad man. I'm glad you're not." She then gasped and sat up fast. "Oh no, I wasn't supposed to say that…"

I sighed and shook my head. "Am I ever going to find out about who I was? I mean, it would mean a lot to me."

She shook her head with a frown. "I'm really sorry, Tim…but we can't tell you. We all made a promise…"

"To who?" I asked.

She nodded. "I guess I can tell you that…" She then lay her head down on me again, looking out at the ocean where the sun would appear. "We all made a promise…to Arceus."

If I'd been a cartoon, my eyes would have been bulging out of my head right now.

I just stared down at Rina in utter shock, not even able to speak. The very fact that the Creator itself had a stake in keeping my past from me caused me to question nearly everything about my life. First of all, what was _so_ important about _me_ that such a godlike being would even bother? Second, why would keeping the past from me be so important? I mean, I trusted all my friends deeply…but this was pushing it. I wanted answers, and this waiting shit was pissing me off. All the same, I was level-headed enough to not take my frustration out on Rina and the others. I mean, if Arceus was involved, it wasn't their fault.

God or not, I'd let Arceus have it itself if and when I got a chance to speak to it.

I found it kind of weird that even with the Legendaries, I didn't really have the whole "ooh and ahh" feeling about them. I mean sure, I respected them, but to me Pokemon weren't some powerful entities that were mysterious and dangerous. Instead to me, Pokemon were friends, allies, family…and more recently, romantic partners. To me, Pokemon and humans were no different. Both had emotions, both were obviously intelligent (albeit some more than others), and both could love and be loved. This was part of the reason why I didn't like most trainers. It would be considered horrendous for a human to have a human slave…and even more so for a Pokemon to have a human slave. Let a Pokemon get bossed around by a human though and it's just called being a Pokemon "trainer". Luckily, there were exceptions of course. People like Anthony, for example, were a perfect representation of what a Pokemon trainer could be…_should_ be.

I'd like to think I had a hand in Anthony's outlook on Pokemon.

All the same though, this all meant that Lugia, Mew, and Mewtwo were simply people who wanted to meet me because they'd heard good things about me. With that being the case, I welcomed them as I would a human…no more, no less. This in turn was also the reason I felt anger towards Arceus now. All I can say is that he'd better have a damn good reason for wanting to keep my past from me, and involving my friends in it as well.

As I left my inner thoughts, I noticed that the sun was just about to peek over the horizon. Rina still looked a little ashamed though, so I just tilted her head up to meet my eyes. I then kissed her forehead and smiled. "Rina, I'm not mad at you. I can't say I understand _why_ you can't tell me. But I mean, it is Arceus after all…the creator of…well, everything." She hopped up onto my lap so I wrapped my arm around her, and I heard her sigh when I started petting her again. "I love all of you, and I'd never get mad at you for something that's beyond your control."

She laid her head against my chest as the sun made its first appearance of the day, smiling out at the beautiful morning light. "I love you too, Tim. You're like my best friend ever…and I know the rest feel the same. Don't tell Orpheus you love him, though. He'll just make fun of you for being gay."

I nodded and chuckled. "Yeah…I kinda figured that." I then sighed. "You know, this is actually really romantic. I should try and bring Geanne or Tessa out here in the morning."

Rina giggled and shook her head. "Well I can't really say I feel the romance with you Tim…no offense. As far as getting Geanne up this early, good luck. She's not a morning girl _at all_. Try to wake her up before she's ready and you're liable to get slapped or blasted with psychic energy. Tessa seems to get up pretty early, though. You might give it a try with her. Something tells me she'd enjoy it a lot more than Geanne anyway."

"Why's that?" I asked.

She shrugged. "Geanne's always been more of a night Pokemon. I mean it's weird seeing as how Gardevoirs normally aren't nocturnal, but then again being a shiny, there's a _lot_ of things about her that are unique."

I chuckled and nodded in agreement. "You're telling me." I continued running my hands over the soft fur of Rina's side and neck. "Well, we should get going soon. I want to take out a few Pokemon that are in my Pokemon box in the PC and bring them home. I feel bad about just leaving them in the box warehouse, and I'd like to show them the new me…both mind and spirit. Besides, I'm pretty sure they'll love to find out I'm one of these 'Awakened' people."

She nodded, but just snuggled into my chest even more. "That's fine…just a few more minutes though. It's been awhile since I've had you to myself."

"Jealous much?" I remarked, smirking.

She shook her head. "No…not really. It's just that before you lost your memory, it was always _me_ that would sleep in your bed with you. I miss that a lot. You should get a bigger bed."

"I should, shouldn't I?" I responded, actually thinking it was a good idea now. In some ways, sitting there with Rina was even more relaxing and tranquil than doing it with Geanne or Tessa. For one, I didn't have to worry about impressing her or keeping up a romantic relationship of any kind. Rina cared about me a lot as is. I mean I know that Geanne and Tessa did too, but somehow with those two I always felt like I needed to be better than myself. With the sweet Magnetric in my lap, there was none of that feeling. I was perfectly content just stroking her soft fur and feeling the slight tingle in my skin whenever my hand touched her.

Sometimes we all need a break…even from those we love.

Of course, I _did_ need to start the day and get things done, so begrudgingly I stood up with Rina and headed into town, going to the Pokemon center first. I didn't have a computer of my own yet (or electricity for that matter), so I was forced to use the public PC that would be there in the lobby. Save for Rina's I'd left all the Pokeballs at home so that I'd be able to pick up a few of the Pokemon in my box, but it felt a little weird having only one of my friends with me as I walked through town. I actually felt kind of naked, but I just brushed the thought away as we made our way to the red-roofed building near the east beach. As usual I received some curious looks from walking around with a large five-foot electric Pokemon out, but I wasn't worried about it. After all, if they only knew that I had met three Legendaries in one day and was somehow associated with Arceus itself…they'd probably shit themselves. Strange looks because of Rina walking beside me were the least of my worries.

* * *

As we walked into the Pokemon Center, we were both greeted by the smiling face of Nurse Joy behind the counter. From what I'd noticed, there was a Nurse Joy at _every_ Pokemon Center I'd been to so far…which either meant this girl had a lot of identical sisters, or was really _really_ fast.

"Hello there and welcome to the Cianwood Pokemon-" she greeted before gasping. "Oh! You're the new arrival we had move in on the Red Rock Plateau. How do you like Cianwood so far?"

I smiled and shrugged. "It's really nice, actually. I mean I haven't really met anyone else save for the Pokemart owner, but it seems like a pretty nice place. It's calm and quiet, which is just the way I like it."

She smiled sweetly and nodded. "Well I'm glad you like it. So, how may I assist you today?" She pointed to Rina. "Is she injured or sick?"

I shook my head and motioned to the computer. "Nope, Rina's fine. I just need to use the PC really quick to get some of the other Pokemon out of there. I feel bad about just keeping them locked away in a Pokeball."

She looked genuinely impressed and smiled. "Well, I admire your compassion for Pokemon, Mister Maxwell. It's always good to see a person who understands that Pokemon are people too."

I nodded and sat down in the chair in front of the computer, booting it up. "I agree. In my experience, most Pokemon have more 'humanity' than most humans do. It's okay though, because I've seen that not all trainers are bad. There's a boy named Anthony that I met in Blackthorn City, for example. He treats his Pokemon really well and I can tell they all care about and trust him." The nurse simply nodded and went about assisting a man who had just walked in while I worked my way through the PC. Once I got to the "Withdraw PkMn" area, it was pretty self explanatory from there. I then motioned to Rina and she stood up to look at the screen with her front paws on my leg. "Hey Rina, any idea who I should bring with us? I'm thinking that three should be a good number to start with."

She nodded and scanned the pictures of the different Pokemon stored in my box before pointing to three pictures right next to each other…of an Entei, Raikou, and Scuicune. "Wow…I didn't know you'd caught _all three_ of them. Those are Legendaries!"

I raised an eyebrow. "Lugia told me that catching Legendaries is bad, because they control powers over nature and physics and whatnot, and that catching them could cause global catastrophe, yada yada…"

She shook her head. "Not with these three. They were frozen in stone underneath the Burned Tower of Ecruteak city. They are strong elemental Pokemon, but they're actually not directly linked to any natural laws as far as I know. You must have caught these three before you and I met, because I don't remember you catching them."

I shrugged. "Probably would be nice to bring them out then. Okay, we'll do these three first. Lugia did say Legendaries would want to meet me, after all, so this would be a good idea in theory."

I clicked and dragged the mouse over the three Pokemon to select them and clicked the "Withdraw" button. The computer hummed for a few moments before a bright light enveloped me. I had wondered how the computer would know how many Pokemon I'd have on me, so I guess that's what this was for. After a few seconds a small 'ding' sound came out of the computer, followed by three shrunken Ultra Balls materializing in the small tray next to the computer. I picked up the three balls and waved goodbye to Nurse Joy before heading back to the house, heavy three more Pokemon.

* * *

When we arrived home I was greeted by Geanne, who was relaxing underneath a tree with Jade. "Oh hey you two! I was wondering where you were, you missed breakfast."

I nodded and smiled. "Yeah, Rina and I took a walk along the beach and watched the sun rise. I then figured I'd go to the Pokemon Center and get out three Pokemon to join us, as I feel bad about leaving one-hundred or so Pokemon just bored in a Pokeball."

Gunnar came out from behind the house and raised an eyebrow. "Really now? What three did you choose?"

I held up the three shrunken balls in my hand and grinned. "Entei, Raikou, and Suicune."

I assumed that the rest had been with me when it happened, as Jade was the only one who looked surprised. "Y-you caught the three Legendary beasts of Johoto?"

I nodded. "I guess so. Anyhow, seeing as how they're Legendaries I figured I'd start with them."

I held up the first Ultra Ball and noticed the small display on it read "Entei", so I enlarged the capture device and tossed it on the ground. The ball popped open with a flash of light, revealing a tall figure about a foot taller than me. The light took shape and color, revealing a brown canine-form Pokemon with brown fur and what looked like a cloud of smoke coming off of its back. The Pokemon then yawned and stretched, popping a few bones as he did so.

The Entei then looked over at Rina and smiled. "Ah…it's about time he let me out of there. How long has it been?"

I smirked and patted Rina on the head softly. "She doesn't know because she wasn't there when I caught you, and I am suffering from amnesia."

The Entei's eyes widened. "An Awakened? Well, this is a surprise. My brother and sister would _love_ to meet you."

I held up the other two balls and smiled. "Well if you're talking about Suicune and Raikou, they're right here."

His eyes widened again and he smiled. "_Really_? You caught them too? Wow…you must be one _hell_ of a trainer to catch Raikou."

I shrugged. "Memory loss, so I couldn't tell you. Anyway, that life's behind me. I now focus on Pokemon behavior and enrichment. Pokemon are friends and family to me…not tools or weapons."

"Ah, a good choice for an Awakened. Very respectful indeed." the volcanic Legendary remarked. He then hopped a little on his front paws. "Well come on then, don't keep me waiting, release them from the balls. It seems like forever since I've seen them."

I nodded and enlarged the two other Ultra Balls and tossed them on the ground in front of me. As they opened and materialized their contents, the Entei smiled wide.

"Brother, sister…" he whispered.

The two turned to him in shock, the Suicune stepping forward. "Brother? You were caught as well?"

The Entei nodded and smiled. "Yes…by the same trainer you were…who's currently right behind you." The aurora and thunder Pokemon turned to me in confusion. Entei then stepped up behind them and whispered, "He's an Awakened one."

I nodded and smiled. "I am. My name's Timothy Maxwell, and just to let you know, I'm no longer a trainer. Instead, I focus on behavioral studies and Pokemon enrichment. In fact, my career that I work in now actually focuses on protecting and fixing the bonds between trainers and the Pokemon they work with. I believe that Pokemon are every bit people as humans are…and I treat them as such. In fact…" I motioned to Geanne and Tessa, who were standing a few yards away from me. "I'm in love with two of them."

Raikou stepped forward and eyed me suspiciously. "If you truly respect Pokemon as you say, then why did you capture us?"

I sighed and closed my eyes. "That was a past life, and I have to say just from the little I've found out, I'm not really proud of it so far. That is, however, part of the reason I wished to bring you out to speak to." I motioned to all the Pokemon that currently surrounded us. "All of the ones here are friends of mine who choose to stay 'captured' of their own free will. The only reason I don't just release them is because one: they want to stay with me; two: because by releasing them, they'd just be a target for another trainer. And so, I'm offering the same arrangement for the three of you. Remain captured and be an equal among all of us, living in peace and quiet away from the trainer life…or be released, and risk being captured by another trainer, who may or may not be a good trainer or – for that matter – a good person. There are evil humans out there…those that would do harm to Pokemon. As the three roaming Legendary Pokemon of Johoto, I'm sure you've seen evidence of this." They all nodded. "So…make your choice. As I said before, you will be an equal here and a friend, not property. You are and will be free to do as you please and to come and go as you please. The only difference is that you can return here for a home, and no trainer could capture you." I then shrugged. "If it makes you feel any better, I've already met with Lugia, Mew, and Mewtwo. The only one who didn't seem to like me was the Mewtwo named Amory, but considering his life, I don't really blame him."

Suicune stepped forward first, smiling. "Well I was not able to tell you this before, but I do not present myself to someone I do not respect and sense a pure heart within. I will stay."

Entei stepped forward next, grinning smugly. "Well if you were smart and powerful enough to catch me, you already have my answer as well. I'm staying with my sister." He then looked back at Raikou. "That just leaves you, brother."

The thunder Pokemon sighed. "Well I'm certainly not going to just leave the two of you alone." He then looked at me with a look of resignation. "And I suppose that by what you've said, you deserve a chance to prove yourself to me. Besides, my sister is not easily impressed. I will stay and see if you truly are what you seem to be."

I nodded at the three. "Well, I'm glad you've all decided to stay. Anyhow, I've got to get cleaned up and changed for the day, as I want to look my best in case I have any clients today. We'll build the three of you a nice shelter of your own so you can stay together and have a place to sleep if and when you're around here. It would be best if you got to know everyone here in the meantime. Only Gunnar has known a Legendary personally, so I'm sure the rest would love to meet and greet you."

"Gunnar?" asked Suicune.

A grunt came from behind her and she turned to see the grinning face of said water Pokemon. He bowed slightly in reverence. "It's a pleasure to meet the three of you. I'm Gunnar." He then stood up and motioned towards the house. "There's some hot food left over from breakfast. Why don't the three of you come in and get some grub while we talk, alright?"

The three Legendaries nodded in assent and followed him inside. Geanne came up beside me, as did Tessa. The Gardevoir pointed towards the quartet heading to the house and smiled. "I remember when you caught the three of them. Took you forever, flying all over Johoto to find them, but you somehow pulled it off. Raikou seems a little apprehensive, but the other two seem to like you a lot."

I nodded. "With every group there's always at least one that plays the part of the guardian, protecting the others. With Amory and Taika, it was Amory. With these three, it's Raikou. The fact that they're siblings makes him more protective. I hope that with time he can learn to trust me a little more."

Tessa snaked her arm around my waist and laid her head against my shoulder. "He will. I trust you, and I'm pretty confident that once he lets himself see you for what you really are, he will as well. You have to remember that with their travelling, they've seen a lot more than any of us have. They've seen beauty, goodness, and light…but they've also seen the evil of the world. They've seen those that want to steal, to maim…and kill. Lady Suicune doesn't choose to reveal herself to just anyone, Tim. Just remember that even though you can't remember it, she saw something in you that she liked…just like I did. She saw a kindness and care for Pokemon that's pretty rare in the world nowadays. She saw the potential and will to change the world."

The fact that the Blaziken said such things about me made me feel awesome, and even more so because of the fact that she distrusted most humans so much. I mean, she told me that because of what I did for her – a complete stranger at the time – she trusted me completely…but a part of me didn't believe that. There had to be more to it than that…something I don't see.

**Tessa's PoV**

As the four of us – Geanne, Tim, me, and Rina – sat down in the grass surrounding the house, I couldn't help but smile at the young human's recent change in appearance. I don't think he'd noticed yet, but his blonde hair had taken a lavender tinge to it, and a small tuft of hair on his bangs was colored platinum. Lastly, his eyes had taken to match his hair, one a soft lavender, the other a bright platinum. I was thankful he did not seem to look into the mirror much, or he may have been shocked at this recent change. Still, I thought it made him look handsome and unique.

Handsome…

That was something I never thought I'd think about a human. Not that I had anything against them, but humans and Pokemon were just so different…or at least I _used _to think that. Tim was the first human I'd come across that treated us Pokemon as equals and friends…not as tools. Granted I might not have been around the best crowd of humans during my life, but that fact still stood. It was confusing at first that I had such feelings about a man as opposed to one of my own kind, but he saw me as a person, not just a Pokemon…so I guess that allowed me to feel the same about him.

And then there was…_that_ night.

The trainer who cared for me before (if you can call it that) had drunk beer or other alcohol on occasion, so I was well aware of its affects on the mind and how it changed behavior. Still, Tim's compassion and care didn't change the morning after, and this solidified my feelings with him. I hadn't known him that long, so I was reticent to call it love, but I definitely cared about him a lot.

The very fact that he could garner the respect and even friendship of the Sacred Ones of our world reinforced my thinking that he was worth the vulnerability that came with caring about someone else. I somehow knew without a shadow of a doubt that he would _never _intentionally hurt any of us, and this certainty just made me feel safer around him. Right now for example, as I watched him run his fingers through the blue and yellow Magnetric between his legs, I couldn't help but realize how this felt more like family than anything I'd ever felt before. I never knew my parents, as I was in the possession of a professor for as long as I could remember before that boy came and took me away. Even with him, however, I felt more like a _thing_ than a living being. But here was Timothy – a young man with nothing to gain out of helping me – who put his safety on the line to save me, because he saw more and cared more about me than anyone previously had.

For some reason, however, my mind lately had been constantly wandering to that day he helped me bathe, when we almost did…_something_. I'd found myself thinking about it more and more as I spent more time with him, and even though I wanted it to progress _so _bad, it also scared me. I was afraid of a lot of things ever since…well, since something happened that I'd rather not think about…but this was different. This was a fear not of pain or punishment, but of the unknown…but a beautiful unknown. It scared me just how much I wanted Tim in every sense of the phrase, but I just couldn't make myself take that last step and open myself completely to him. I had my own issues to work though, though.

I felt guilty and horrible for having lied to him when he asked if my previous trainer had…_done things_ to me.

It was my own fault, anyway. Maybe if I hadn't smiled so much at him or maybe if I hadn't hugged him…either way it must have been something I did. I started acting differently after I evolved into a Blaziken, and I guess that was why things changed so much. When I was just a Combusken, he was better. Never as nice as Tim was, but he wasn't like he was when I evolved. He always told me that Pokemon were to do whatever their masters asked of them…so I submitted like a good Pokemon should.

Maybe that's why I trusted Tim so much and so readily.

Tim never asked me to do anything that he wouldn't do himself, and never _ever_ forced me to do anything. I couldn't explain it, but whenever I was around him I just got this warm feeling of security and safety. It was something I sensed since that first day we met in the forest outside of the cabin…and I couldn't explain it. It was like his very presence was projecting good feelings to me...calling to me. Even that night in the cabin, he let me lead…never forcing me to do anything I wasn't ready for. Not that we did anything more than kiss and touch, but still…it was a great feeling to be given the choice on what I wanted to do. It was a great feeling to know that the choice on what to do or what not to do rested solely with me, and the feeling was empowering. It was something that I'd never felt before but somehow, it felt natural…as if it was the way things _should_ be. The very fact that he would actually ask me my thoughts on things or my opinion made me feel valued and cared for, and for the first time in a long time, I felt like a living thing instead of just a weapon.

* * *

"Tessa?" I looked over at Tim, his dual-hued eyes staring back at me. "You've been quiet for like the past hour. What are you thinking about?"

It's so hard to look into his eyes and just lie…and I don't know if it was the care I saw in them or my own guilt, but I couldn't hide from him anymore. I was nearly on the edge of bursting into tears when I blurted out, "I lied…"

He unsurprisingly stared at me in confusion. "You lied? About what?" I looked at the two others sitting nearby and he seemed to get the message. "Girls, could you give us a moment? Go check on our three new arrivals and Tess and I will be in momentarily." Geanne seemed to know this was very serious, and gave me a look of deep concern before laying a hand on Rina's neck fur as they walked to the house together. Once they were out of sight, Tim turned back to me. "Okay, what is it Tess? You know you can tell me anything…"

**Tim's PoV**

"Okay, what is it Tess? You know you can tell me anything…" I said as gently as I could.

She visibly tensed at this before looking at me with her bright blue-yellow eyes. "Remember that day you asked if my old trainer ever…" she gulped, "_raped_ me?"

No…

My mind went blank, and my entire body felt like it was on fire with rage. Somewhere in the present, I knew that Tessa was crying against my chest, and that I was holding her tight against me in an effort to comfort her. This was merely an automatic response on my part though, as my mind was seething with hatred and a desire for retribution. After a few minutes when she released me I stood up and walked to the house, barely hearing Tessa calling my name from behind me.

As soon as I entered the house I spotted Gunnar and Brutus talking with the three Legendaries, and when they looked at me they instantly knew something was wrong. I looked at the two large Pokemon and grinned evilly. "Gunnar, Brutus…prepare for departure. We're going hunting."

**Geanne's PoV**

That look in his eye…I'd seen it before, and I didn't like it.

As he walked outside to prepare for whatever he was going to do, I pulled the Blaziken aside with a glare. "_What_ did you tell him?"

She shuddered a bit by my tone, but looked me in the eyes. "I…I told him the truth. The truth about what happened to me."

I raised an unseen eyebrow at her in suspicion. "The truth? What do you mean?"

"W-well, he once asked me if my past trainer ever raped me or anything…and I told him no." she responded, but then lowered her head. "That was a lie, though."

My eyes shot open in shock of what this meant. "Oh…by Arceus, he's going to kill him."

The teary-eyed fire Pokemon looked at me in confusion. "_Kill_ him? You're kidding, right?"

I shook my head. "Alright listen, you have to _swear _by Arceus…by everything you hold dear that you will _not_ tell Tim what I'm about to tell you, do you understand?" She nodded silently. "Alright…Tim's past life before you met him was dark…very dark. He was a Pokemon Ranger, do you know what that is?" She nodded again, so I continued. "Alright. As you know, Pokemon Rangers work for the Pokemon of the world, protecting and speaking for them when they can't fight for themselves or speak for themselves." I then looked away, not able to meet her eyes. "More than that, though…he was an assassin." She gasped and I nodded. "Yes, an assassin. His specialty was priority targets, namely Pokemon Hunters and poachers. While respectful and even noble at times, he was given missions to take down and destroy the targets that refused to obey the law, and refused to accept deals of surrender…often times even using the Pokemon they had hunted and caught to kill those that tried to stop them. He…" I sighed as I looked back into her glassy yellow and blue eyes. "He was one of the best there was. Make no mistake Tess, he's more dangerous than you could possibly imagine."

She looked at me in shock. "H-have you…?"

I shook my head. "No…it was always Gunnar and Brutus that went with him. None of the others were ever included…and I think he did that for a reason. He didn't want us to be jaded and mentally scarred by what he had to do. And now, without even knowing it, he's about to use his ten or so years of training to exact revenge on someone who hurt you deeply…and I'm afraid that even a coroner isn't going to recognize your old trainer when Tim's done with him."

Her eyes widened even more. "W-well we _have_ to stop him! He's going to go to prison, or worse!"

I nodded. "I know." I then walked to the kitchen, finding a very bewildered looking trio of Sacred Ones. "We need to stop him, so we need a ride to Blackthorn City right now."

Lady Suicune stared at me in confusion. "What is so important that you have to get there in such a hurry?"

I sighed and looked towards the door that Tim had walked out of a few minutes ago. "Tim is going to kill…no…_slay_ a man for what he did to Tessa. There is no way I will get there in time on my own to stop him. We need one of you to take us there _immediately_ before he ends up on death row for this."

The aurora Pokemon shook her head. "N-no, I sensed a pure heart within him. This has to be a mistake."

"His heart is pure, Lady Suicune, but it is _because_ of his great compassion for his friends that he internalizes their pain. When Tessa told him of what happened to her, it was as if the pain was his own...as if the violation was done to _him_. His vengeance is warranted, but I'm afraid humans aren't going to see it that way. So please…_please_ help us." I pleaded.

Lord Entei stepped forward with a look of resolution. "Climb on. We need to leave right now if we're going to get there before him."

I nodded and did as he asked, Tessa following suit.

* * *

**Brutus' PoV**

"He fucking _raped _her! Ooh…this son of a bitch is going to die _slow_! I'm going to rip out his heart with my bare fucking hands!" shouted Tim, who was mounted on my back.

I'd _never_ seen him this angry before. Even in the past when we…_worked_ together, he was always calm and collected – completely focused.

But this…this was different.

This was a personal vendetta against one person…and after finding out exactly _what_ had happened to Tessa, I would be lying if I said I didn't agree with his choice of righteous retribution.

Some call it vigilantism…I call it making things right.

Still…usually it was Tim who was the level-headed one of the three of us, so it looked like _I_ was going to have to be the one that kept _him_ focused on this mission. While not official, this would be something the Crimson Ring would want done. To be so heinous as to violate a female in such a way – let alone _any_ living thing…

It's unforgivable…and that boy _will _pay.

Justice knows no age, gender, species, or social class. Justice doesn't care if you're sorry, because _most_ are sorry…when they get caught. However, for the first time, I knew that simply killing this despicable human wasn't going to solve the problem. Instead, he had to be made into an example…a deterrent for any other sick-minded humans or Pokemon that would do something like he did. No, he wouldn't die…not yet.

* * *

I flew for hours before we arrived on the other side of the Johoto region, but Tim's rage hadn't abated. If anything, he'd gotten even angrier. He picked up and tapped Gunnar's Pokeball that was on his waist, releasing the large water Pokemon. He said nothing to either of us, simply walking towards the local police station. As we walked through the small city, we all received a few waves and even some smiles from the local populace…but we didn't respond. Somehow, it felt wrong to smile and be friendly, being here for what we were.

We arrived at the police station a few minutes later, immediately noticing the blue-haired policewoman, who smiled at us. "Oh, hey you guys! It's been awhile since we've seen you around here. So, how ar-"

She was cut off by a growl from Tim. "Where. Is. He."

"What?" she asked confused.

He snarled and pointed towards where the jail cells were. "Tessa's old trainer." He clenched his fists tight, his fingernails biting into his own palms and drawing blood. "He _raped _her!"

At this outburst was when all hell broke loose.

Gunnar and I watched as a dark aura surrounded him, his arms igniting with black fire up to his elbows. It was something that we were familiar with, though we didn't understand it. Often during our past missions, this sort of "transformation" would occur when he was under a large amount of strain. The problem is that with no memory, he probably didn't know what was happening…not that he seemed to care, or notice for that matter.

Even with this happening, Officer Jenny kept her cool and just glared at him. "That is a _very_ severe acc-"

She was interrupted yet again by Tim as he stomped his foot, causing the tile floor to crack slightly. "I _know_ it's a serious accusation! I don't have time for this bullshit, so I'll make it nice and simple for you: Tell me where he is so I don't have to tear up the entire town looking for him. Don't think for a moment that I won't."

The officer stared unflinchingly at Tim before stepping past and motioning for us to follow her. "This way."

**Tim's PoV**

Even in my enraged state, Jenny's response caught me completely off guard. No fight, no disagreeing? I wasn't prepared for cooperation at all. Even with that being the case, the thought of what I was going to do to this fucker when I found him overrode my confusion.

That was of course until we came to a small violet-roofed house…with Entei, Geanne, and Tessa standing in front of it.

"Tessa?" I asked, utterly confused. "What are you doing here?"

She rushed over to me and hugged me tight, again catching me off-guard. "I'm stopping you from doing something you'll regret, Tim."

The fire inside me was reignited and I shoved her away in confusion, shock…and anger. "What are you talking about? This guy _violated _you in one of the worst ways possible…and you're protecting _him_? Please, tell me you see what's wrong with that."

Tessa stood tall and for the first time since I've known her, glared at me in anger. "No Tim, I'm not protecting him…I'm protecting _you_."

"Protecting me from what…from him? I'm not afraid of him in the slightest!" I bellowed in response.

She shook her head sadly, but still looking even angrier. "No…from yourself. You're losing yourself, Tim. This isn't you. Let it go and wake up."

For a second, I considered just stopping…and letting it go, as she said. The fire within me just burned hotter though, and I could only grit my teeth in anger. "NO! This ends _now_ for him!"

I pushed past her and walked towards the door, only to be thrown back on my ass, some twenty feet away from where I was. I looked up in shock to see Tessa had taken a fighting pose and was glaring at me. "If you're so consumed by your own misguided anger to see that this isn't the answer, then I'll stop you myself…by force if I need to."

I don't know why, but I laughed. "_You_ stop _me_? Are you high?"

Again she surprised me, her usually-gentle eyes now burning with defiance and fierce determination. "Try me."

For some reason her challenge just made my inner fire burn hotter…but this time with excitement, not anger. I was not only excited to fight her, but somewhere deep within, I was ecstatic to see her as the strong and confident Pokemon I knew she could be…and to think it took me wanting to kill the cocksucker that raped her to do it.

Now that I was out of my rage-haze, I noticed the black flames that were licking along my skin, as well as the slight dark glow to the air around me. I smiled and raised my hands and took a fighting stance, noting that somehow this felt completely natural. I nodded towards her and grinned at the challenge. "Alright then, let's do this."

Her wrists erupted with flames around them and she charged forward faster than I thought possible. Instinctively, I raised my forearm and met hers in a clash, a burst of force radiating out from the contact. She then grabbed my shoulders and jumped, slamming a flaming knee into my stomach, causing me to double over as all the breath left my lungs. My shirt had caught fire, so I whipped it off over my head in time to block another knee that was heading towards my face. The force caused me to stand back up, and from then on my body started reacting on its own.

I matched her blow for blow, now blocking or dodging all her strikes, her doing the same in response to my counters. Even in the middle of a fight, I was proud of her…she was an amazing fighter.

As the fight dragged on, however, she changed up her game. Instead of dodging all my strikes, she started to glow slightly red as she started blocking all of them. I of course didn't know what she was doing until it was too late.

She grinned at me after a strike before her fist started glowing with a bright white light. "Bide…" It was too fast to avoid, and her fist slammed into my face, causing everything to go dark.

* * *

"Did you really have to hit him that hard?"

"It's called Bide for a reason. Maybe if he wasn't so focused on raining blows on me, he might have been able to figure out what was going on. Besides, I told him I'd stop him, so that's what I did."

I opened my eyes in pain. Everything hurt…even my fucking hair hurt. I didn't even know hair _could _hurt…but I am unfortunate enough to find out that yes…it can. I looked around, noticing the faces of Gunnar, Brutus, Geanne, Tessa, and Entei looking down at me curiously…as well as the eyes of Lance.

Lance reached down and grabbed my hand, pulling me up into a sitting position and placing his hand on my back to support me. "Damn Tim, that was a hell of a fight, and against a Blaziken no less."

I rubbed my face and instantly winced in pain, feeling the subtle warm liquid that could only be blood. "Yeah…not one of my brighter ideas. What happened?"

Tessa sat down next to me and smirked. "I told you I'd stop you but _no_…you wouldn't listen."

Even after just getting my ass kicked, I couldn't help but smile. I placed my free hand on her back and rubbed softly. "You were _amazing_, Tessa. I always knew you had it in you."

She blushed…and yes, I could tell even through her red feathers that she was blushing. "Y-yeah, thanks. Just don't make me beat you again, please."

I nodded. "Fair enough. Now, can anyone tell me what the hell was with all the black fire and glowing that was going on with me?"

Lance patted me on the shoulder and smiled. "I think I can shed some light on that for you, Tim. I'm sure you're pretty familiar now with the fact that the Awakened are the link between humans and Pokemon. Can you guess how that is though?" I shrugged, and he just grinned. "The Awakened are natural hybrids." My mouth dropped open in shock. "Yes Tim…you have the blood of Pokemon flowing in your veins. This gives you access to a few choice abilities that change depending on the person the gift of being an Awakened is bestowed upon. What you were using, for example, was Aura. Aura is the same kind of force that the Pokemon Lucario uses. It grants the user enhanced speed, strength, agility, perception, durability, and reaction time. To you, the two of you were fighting at normal speed. To the rest of us, though, you were moving almost too fast to see." He then sighed. "The downside is that it's kind of like a supercharger for your body. As stupid as it sounds, most of the pain you're feeling right now isn't from the fight itself, but from your use of Aura. It puts an enormous strain on the body if you use it for extended periods of time."

I nodded a little dumbly. "Umm wow…that's intense." I then looked sheepishly at Tessa. "Uh, thanks for bringing me back to my senses."

She smiled and kissed my cheek. "Anytime, Tim."

"Blaziken?" said a voice from behind me.

Even from months ago, I immediately recognized the voice as the boy I'd come here to utterly destroy. Thankfully for me, that knock to the head seemed to have also knocked out my ability to go into a rage again. While I was angry at the very sound of his voice, it wasn't the all-consuming rage I felt earlier. And so, I turned around and looked at the surprised boy, who was for some odd reason, smiling.

"Blaziken! Oh, I never thought I'd see you again!" he started to run over to her, only to be knocked back by a push from Gunnar. Gunnar growled at him and stood firm. "Hey man, what gives?"

Tessa looked at the young boy – not a day over fourteen – and sighed. "I…I forgive you, Daniel…but we can _never_ be friends again."

The boy stared at her in confusion for a moment, so I stood up and took my place by her side. I laced my fingers in hers and looked at her lovingly, smiling. I then looked back to the boy with a blank expression. "She says she forgives you, Daniel…but you and her can _never _be friends again…not after what you did to her." His eyes widened in fear and I nodded. "Yeah…she told me what you did to her, you sick bastard. Just so you know, I was actually coming here to utterly destroy you in every sense of the world…but she stopped me." I then sighed and looked away from him at empty space. "You're safe. I'm not going to do anything to you…none of us are. However, if I should _ever_ hear about you doing something like that to _anyone_ else – Pokemon or human – Arceus itself wouldn't be able to stop me. I hope that's enough incentive to change your ways, because if it's not, you'll be seeing me again."

The boy said nothing, and simply ran back inside his house, closing and locking the door.

* * *

We arrived home a few hours later after saying goodbye to Jenny and Lance, and then flying/running (respectively) back to Cianwood. Jenny said the boy was _not _going to get off easy, and would likely spend the rest of his life doing community service for the city…which made me feel a little bit better about the situation.

As we all walked into the house as the sun touched the horizon, everyone left to go get cleaned up – or in Entei's case, talk with his siblings. This left Tessa and I alone in the family room.

She seemed to be thinking about something again, and considering the last thing she had been thinking of this morning, I was a little apprehensive to ask what it was…but I wanted to show her that I _did_ care about her. So, I placed a hand on her knee and smiled when she looked at me. "So, what's on your mind, Tessa? Are you okay?"

She was silent for a long time before smiling softly and nodded. "Actually, yeah…I'm great. I feel…renewed. I think…" she paused, seeming to find her words, "I think I needed closure out of all this…and albeit I had to beat you to a pulp, I got it." She then looked out the window that overlooked the ocean, leaning her head against my shoulder and placing her hand on mine. "It…it was never my fault. What happened, I mean."

I rubbed the soft feathers of her leg as I leaned my head against hers. "It never was, Tess. You were the innocent here, manipulated and raped mentally and physically by an evil person."

She sighed. "No…he's not evil. Sick, depraved, and a bastard…but not evil. I know you won't agree with me, but I have to believe there's still some good in him. He looked remorseful…and sad when I told him I could never be friends with him."

I sighed as well and nodded gently. "Well you're right, I can't agree with you there…but I guess you're entitled to your own beliefs." I then cleared my throat nervously. "Um, I'm sorry if I hurt you at all, by the way."

I could see the corners of her beak turn into a grin. "Do we remember the same fight? You didn't land even one clean hit on me." She then sighed sadly and squeezed my hand. "What hurt me the most was that you almost lost yourself completely. Don't ever scare me like that again, Tim."

I turned my head to kiss the soft long white feathers of her head before settling to lean against hers again. "I swear. The last thing I want to do is cause you pain like that."

"Shower's free!" yelled Geanne's voice from upstairs.

I turned to Tessa and nodded. "Alright, well I'm going to take a shower."

As I started to get up, she grabbed my hand and looked up at me with pleading eyes. "C-could I go with you?"

I raised an eyebrow in suspicion. "There's no river current this time, Tess. What's your excuse?"

She shrugged and smirked. "Maybe I want to be _close _to you."

"Oh…uh wow…" I stuttered out. "W-well, someone's bold tonight."

She simply nodded and stood, following me upstairs and into the washroom.

* * *

**Geanne's PoV**

By Arceus, that girl is loud.

When the washroom door closed, I assumed it was Tim going in to clean up and wash his cut out…but instead I heard a few minutes of moaning coming from the room. At first I assumed that Tessa had gone into heat and was _relieving _herself, but I was proven wrong when a blast of steam followed her out of the washroom…with Tim walking out after her.

Her personality today had done a complete one-eighty. Where once she was shy and cute, she was now confident and bold. She was still cute, of course, but the large boost of confidence was the largest change. In all honesty though, I liked it. It always pained me to see her so afraid of everything…so damaged. Now, she was like she should be – strong and proud.

As the two of them entered the room, I caught Tessa looking at me out of the corner of her eye and smirking, as if challenging me or something. Maybe another day I'd take her up on that, but at the moment I was exhausted both mentally and physically, and I just needed to rest. From the looks of Tim, I was pretty sure he'd agree.

_Something_ tells me that the Blaziken had something to do with his recent exhaustion, though.

As the three of us lay down on the bed and Rina curled up at the foot of it, I couldn't help but feel that things just _felt_ a lot better in here now. Maybe it was because I could sense emotions, or maybe it was just an inherent feeling…but Tessa's confidence was radiating off of her in waves as opposed to before. I was so proud for her, and as the two of us turned to lay on the chest or shoulder of our trainer/boyfriend, I reached across and held her hand affectionately. She looked across at me and smiled softly, squeezing back. She fell asleep like that, and I followed soon after.

**Tim's PoV**

I had the oddest feeling that things were going to be changing a lot now, for all of us. No doubt that both people and Pokemon had heard of the battle in Blackthorn City, so I knew during the next few weeks things were going to pick up quite a bit. As I looked down at the two sleeping figures in my arms, though, I realized that there was no other way I'd want it.

With all of my friends by my side and these two beauties in my arms, I could do anything.


	6. Ch 6: Red Star

**A/N: Hey there everyone! Frostbreaker here with another chapter for you all. Took me awhile, but I hope you enjoy. As always, please R&R to let me know what you think.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or original story elements associated with the Pokemon series, manga, or game. All rights go to their respective owners.**

* * *

Chapter 6: Red Star

Time flies when you're working hard, and before my very eyes three months passed. A lot of change had happened, namely the extending of my home. It was now no longer a mere house but a large ranch of sorts, home to over fifty Pokemon…all of them from my Pokemon storage box. I had completely cleared out the box now and was pleased I'd done so. Even with my friendliness, about half of the Pokemon chose to be released – some because I didn't battle anymore, some because they didn't like me, and some simply because they thought they could do more good elsewhere. I didn't hold it against any of them, however, as they were comrades, not property.

Whatever…can't please everyone.

During the past three months, I'd also been visited by four more legendaries – a Latias, a Latios, Lady Ho-oh, and Celebi. Contrary to my first belief, I was advised that Legendaries were not the only ones of their kind by far…merely the only ones who chose to be in view of the public. Lady Ho-oh and Lugia, for example, had their own families…and Celebi had a twin sister that helped her in her work.

Amory and Taika had visited again a few times as well, and while the Mewtwo was still a little wary around me, he was no longer cold and distant. I may not have been able to fathom the horrors he had been through, but I did understand his reason for being so mistrusting of humans…so I was patient and attentive. Taika on the other hand was very playful and friendly, much to the chagrin of her companion. The two became regular visitors to my home, and often Amory would point Pokemon in need of help my way. Though officially I was paid for my services with trainers and their Pokemon, I was always ready to help a Pokemon in need of assistance.

The Latias and Latios actually lived in a hidden underground oasis of sorts in the mountain range to the southwest, so they were also frequent visitors. I had learned that Trisha was the name of the Latias, and Michael was the name of the Latios (odd name for a Pokemon, but whatever…I don't judge). Because of their ability to change their form to that of a human, they would often be seen in town communing with other humans. For their own safety, I would often make sure to keep an eye on them from afar, but nothing seemed to have happened yet.

The middle of last month, however, I was devastated.

Geanne had chosen to leave us, going back to her home in a forest somewhere that she wouldn't tell me the location of. She promised she'd be back at some point, but she didn't know when. I know I'd always told her that I didn't own her or anything…but I also loved her. The goodbye was heartbreaking in every sense of the word…even Gunnar shed a tear or two, but it wasn't my place to make her stay. What made me feel a little better, however, was how she reacted when I attempted to give her the Pokeball that bound her to me. In both a symbolic and metaphysical sense, giving her the capture device would be releasing her to find a new trainer…and a new family if she wanted. She promptly denied the gesture, stating that she _would_ be back…and she made a solemn oath.

That didn't make life without her any easier though.

Having Tessa by my side helped quite a large amount though, and she quickly became my go-to girl for all things…after Jade of course. With her confidence renewed and happiness at an all-time high, she was the greatest thing that could have happened to us. She cheered me up when I was down and kept the few troublemaking Pokemon at the ranch in check, making sure we could all live together in peace. Tessa also trained with me, helping me gain strength and skill with fighting with Aura. I couldn't say I found much use for fighting prowess outside of training with her, but it gave me something to do and I wanted to be able to defend us if the need ever rose. After all, we'd all been hearing about Team Rocket lately making a reappearance…again…and it seemed they had a penchant for stealing powerful and/or rare Pokemon…both of which I had around me at all times.

It was obvious that this would make me a prime target for their shenanigans, so I made sure we were as prepared as possible. That's why with Tessa and Horus – a Sandslash – I went about building an underground bunker in case any crazy Team Rocket members decided to come after us. The shelter was made large enough to accommodate all of the Pokemon currently staying at my home, and was strong enough to survive an earthquake. The bedrock of the plateau provided a strong support for the structure, and when it was done I was pleased with the work.

* * *

My career had been a good choice on my part, as I had a steady stream of clients from across all the different regions. Apparently, I was one of the only Awakened that actually stayed in one place…and I was the _only_ one that was using my gift in the way I was. It was all good though, because I was making a metaphorical explosion within the different Pokemon communities, and since Pokemon vastly outnumbered humans, I preferred to have more friends there. Still, humans were not without their exceptions, of course. Anthony was one of them, for example.

And today, I was supposedly meeting another.

I had been contacted by a Professor Oak, one of the many Pokemon professors that were spread across the continents. He was a kind and wise man, and advised me that I would be receiving a visit from a personal friend of his…a man around my age that was simply known as "Red" by his rivals.

In truth I'd already heard a lot about the boy he was referring to.

Ash Ketchum – or just Ash, as he was known by his friends – was one of the most powerful and revered trainers throughout all the regions. He had started his Pokemon journey at the age of ten, and had overcome adversity and even danger to prove that a trainer could care for Pokemon and be powerful. Needless to say, I was excited to meet him, and I could tell the rest of my friends were as well.

Brutus, Tessa, Donahue, and Darcy all helped me prepare the home for arrival of the caterers while Jade and Rina made sure to explain to all the other inhabitants exactly what was going on. I appreciated the help they all gave, and made sure to constantly tell them so.

* * *

Which brings us to now.

Trisha and her brother Michael had dropped by upon hearing that Mr. Ketchum was coming to visit, as did Amory, Taika, and Vincent. All of them apparently knew the trainer personally, so it would be a good reunion for all of them. At the moment, I was resting with all the Legendaries after getting everything set up, watching Tessa train with Brutus and Gunnar.

"She's very fast. How did you keep up with her?" asked Vince.

I shrugged. "I _may_ have cheated by using Aura. I mean come on, you all know there's no way a normal human could be stronger than a Pokemon."

Taika giggled as she rested on the shoulder of Amory. "What about Bruno, Timothy? Of the Elite Four a few years ago."

I chuckled back and shook my head. "Yeah, well he's a freak of nature. I wouldn't be caught dead training with a Machamp without using Aura." I then looked around. "By the way, where's Celebi? You told me she'd be here."

"Right here, Timothy!" said a voice as a blinding flash of light appeared before me.

I fell back against Vince from being startled, and he just laughed. I rolled my eyes and sat up. "You really need to warn me or something when you're going to do that, Lady Celebi. You're going to end up giving me a heart attack or a brain aneurism or something."

The deceptively innocent-looking Pokemon giggled and shook her head. "Oh Timothy, I just like to keep you on your toes! An Awakened must always be vigilant!"

I rolled my eyes and grinned. "I'm _always_ vigilant, Lady Celebi. Teleporting is cheating, though." This caused a chorus of laughter from everyone, including Amory and Raikou. I was glad the two "protectors" had loosened up around me finally, and Raikou had actually become a good friend to me in the months that passed.

"So, when do you think he's going to get here? I'm excited to see him again!" squealed Trisha, who was currently hanging her small arms over my shoulders as she floated from behind.

I chuckled and reached back to stroke her soft fur. "Calm down, Trish…he's coming. I'm sure he'll be here any-"

"Ash!" she screamed, looking up and flying away. I looked to where her gaze had been set and noticed a large Charizard floating in, carrying a black-haired man with a red hat. Not a second passed after he stepped away from the large dragon-like Pokemon then he was tackled to the ground in a hug from Trisha.

He was laughing loudly and hugging her back. "Aw, I missed you too Latias." After a moment she let him up, and he stood to see all the Pokemon that had gathered for him. He looked at me in surprise and smiled. "Wow…you really go all out when you entertain a guest, huh?"

I shrugged. "I aim to please, Mr. Ketchum. Actually though, they all came of their own accord once they heard that you were coming to see me. Seems you have friends in high places."

He chuckled and shook his head. "Just Ash is fine, Timothy. And you're talking about _me_ having friends in high places…look at you! They don't reveal themselves to just anyone."

I bowed softly and smiled. "Well I may have had some help with that. You can thank the Lugia for that one. He passed on the word."

The Charizard growled a bit and nudged his trainer before motioning to us. Ash smiled sheepishly and gestured to the large fire Pokemon. "Sorry about that guys. This is Charizard, and he's one of my closest friends." As soon as he said that, a small Pikachu hopped up on his shoulder with a smile. Ash smiled as well and gestured to the small mouse Pokemon. "And this is Pikachu. These two have been with me pretty much ever since I started my journey."

Vince stepped forward and smiled at the trainer, bowing his head slightly to look at him. _"Greetings, Chosen One. It is great to see you again."_ he said, his thought-voice as deep and smooth as the ocean he lived in.

The young trainer stepped forward and bowed in reverence. "It's good to meet you again, Lugia." He then stood up and smiled. "How have you been? I suppose a better question is how have _they_ been?"

The Guardian of the Seas chuckled in his telepathic voice and smiled. _"They are much better it seems, thank you. What of you, young Ketchum…what have you been up to since I've last seen you?"_

Ash smiled wide and patted his Charizard friend. "We've just been traveling a lot. You know, meeting new people and Pokemon, making friends…saving the world. That kind of thing."

"Cocky much?" remarked the Charizard.

I laughed and Ash just stared at me. I pointed at the Charizard and smirked. "He's funny."

The trainer stared at me in confusion. "Umm…okay. Not sure how a growl could be funny, but…"

I looked over at Vince and he just nodded, so I turned back to Ash with a smile. "I can understand Pokemon. I guess no one told you that."

As I expected he didn't believe me, so I looked at the Charizard with a grin. "Well, what's your name? And do you mind if I tell him?"

The Charizard looked a little bewildered, but shrugged. "Well, my name's Sol…and no, I don't mind."

I raised an eyebrow at him. "You were named after the sun? It's a cool name, but whose idea was that?"

He shrugged. "My parents'…who else?"

I shrugged as well and turned back to the trainer, whose look had just come to one of even more confusion. "He says his name's Sol, and that his parents gave him the name."

Ash stared at me for a moment before looking at Sol. "Is that true?" The Charizard just nodded. The trainer then looked at me and nodded with a surprised look. "I am officially impressed."

It was then that Tessa and the rest of my main group showed up beside me, including Donahue and Darcy, excluding Geanne.

Brutus came up beside me and smirked at Sol. "So this is the great and powerful Charizard that I've heard so much about."

Sol simply growled menacingly. "I don't like being mocked. If you know what's good for you, you'll stop."

"Oh, a tough guy are you? Care to see just how tough you really are?" Brutus responded.

I was about to step in, but Gunnar stopped me. "It's a Charizard thing, Tim. This is normal."

I turned to the two glaring fire Pokemon and pointed to a large open area about fifty or so feet away. "Alright you two, if you want to duke it out, do it over there. We all spent way too long setting all this up for you two to burn it all down." Both of them looked at me and nodded before flying off.

Ash ran up to me and looked positively terrified. "A-are you sure that's a good idea?"

I nodded. "It's a Pokemon thing. They'll be fine, I promise."

He still looked a little worried, but nodded. "Okay…if you say so. If Chariz-…I mean _Sol_ gets hurt, I'm holding you responsible."

"Fair enough. Now," I said, turning to all the Legendaries and inclining my head towards the large tables filled with different foods. "let's go eat and be merry."

* * *

The gathering went great, as everyone got along perfectly…even Sol and Brutus after their little tiff. I spoke with Ash about tracking down and meeting with Anthony, as I was sure they'd get along great and be of great use to each other, seeing as how they both traveled so much. Michael hung around me most of the night along with Tessa of course, but everyone else was mingling and having fun. Not to say I wasn't as well, but let's just say big parties weren't my thing. I preferred to hang with friends and chill out…which was exactly what I did.

I did notice that Trish never strayed from Ash's side the entire afternoon and night, and I couldn't help but grin at it. I nudged her brother and pointed to her with a grin. "Seems your sister's got herself a boyfriend, Michael."

He chuckled and shook his head. "No, not really. Ash is the Chosen One of Arceus, so we Sacred Ones – or "Legendaries" as the humans call us – tend to have an affinity for him. He's a good man and she cares about him a lot…but they're only friends, I assure you." He then smirked at me. "Trust me…I know my sister. She's got her eye on someone else right now."

I took a sip of my drink and grinned. "Really now? Do tell."

Michael just stared at me for a moment before rolling his eyes. "Are you really that dense?"

"Umm…not sure what you mean, but let's say yes…" I responded, now in confusion.

He sighed and closed his eyes. "First of all, she can't help but hang onto you and be around you whenever we visit. Second, she lets you touch her back…she never lets_ any_ human but Ash do that. Third, it all happened in the span of only a month."

It took a moment for what he said to process, but when it did I gasped. "Wait, you mean it's me? Why _me_?"

He laughed loudly and shook his head. "What do you mean _why_? You're a good human, Timothy…and that's rare nowadays. Plus, you're one of the Awakened. I know you humans have a saying that says 'love conquers all', but a speech barrier is not one of them. Two beings need to be able to easily communicate or else it just won't work…and with you being able to speak to us like normal, it's very easy for you. Are you saying you don't want this?"

I shook my head. "I mean I wouldn't say that, but I've already got Tess here and-"

Tess interrupted me with a wave of her hand. "Pokemon society states that the strongest and smartest male may have his choice of mates. Historically this was to make sure that the strongest bloodline would keep the species going, but more recently it's simply an accepted norm."

I raised my eyebrows and nodded. "Yeah, I had always wanted to ask about that, but didn't know how to do it without hurting your feelings, or Geanne's. It makes sense now, though." I then looked intently at the Blaziken and held her hand. "Would you be okay with that though? I mean human society is monogamous, so it feels a little weird. To be honest, it felt a little weird even with Geanne and you…but I didn't say anything because neither of you did."

Tessa held my hand tightly and smiled. "Well I wouldn't force you to do anything you don't want to do, Tim. After all, you've never done that to me."

I shrugged. "I mean now that I know it's morally okay for you all, I'd be willing to give it an honest try. I'd be lying if I said I didn't like Trish a lot. It'll be new with a non-humanoid Pokemon though."

Michael nudged me and rolled his eyes. "She can change into a human, remember?"

"Oh yeah…" I responded. I then looked at the Latios seriously. "How do you feel about it though? I mean, it _is_ your sister."

He smiled and patted me on the shoulder with his hand, then gestured to all of the Pokemon around us. "Look at all these Pokemon here. You told me that you asked them all one-by-one if they wanted to stay…and they all said yes. A human is lucky to have _one_ friend among Pokemon…you have many. You're more than okay in my book. Besides, she's a big Latias…she can make her own decisions."

I smirked at him. "The only kind of brother who says that is one who has a girl of his own. Who is she?"

He suddenly looked a little ashamed. "I…it's Ash's friend…Misty."

"The gym leader from Cerulean City? Wow…well chosen. She's cute." I responded with a genuine smile. He still looked ashamed though, so I prodded a bit. "Hey, what's wrong?"

He sighed and deflated a bit, landing on the ground beside me. "I've never actually met her in anything but my human form. She doesn't know I'm not human."

I shrugged. "What's wrong with that? Just show her your true form."

He shook his head and let out a sad breath. "Cerulean City is rather…old-fashioned. I fear she is likely the same."

I nodded in agreement. "Maybe she is…or maybe she isn't. Tell me this though; would you be able to keep lying to her forever?" He shook his head. "Well, then you have to tell her. If she's okay with it, you have the girl of your dreams. If she's not, then you move on." I snorted and smiled sadly. "I mean, do you remember how depressed I was when Geanne left? She promised she'll be back, but that could be in a month or years." I stroked Tessa's cheek softly as I smiled at her, and then turned back to Michael. "Our friends and family helped me through that though…and you have a sister and friends here that care about you. Either way I promise, you'll be okay." I pulled out an intricate silver chain that was attached to my neck, revealing a small setting on the end that held not a jewel, but a shrunken Pokeball…Geanne's Pokeball. I held it up and let a single tear fall. "We will _never_ forget the loves we have lost, Michael…but that doesn't mean our heart has to be forever broken. It's the vulnerability that always makes love a risk…but I promise it's worth it."

Amory, who was sitting on the other side of Michael, smiled at me. "Well…that was rather deep for you, Timothy."

I rolled my eyes and smirked. "Yeah, I have my moments. Don't tell anyone or they'll start expecting it all the time."

Amory held my gaze for a few seconds before responding. "I was wrong about you, Timothy. You are a good man."

For some reason, these words touched me deeply…especially coming from him. Respectfully, I bowed my head before looking him again in the eyes. "Coming from you Amory, that means a hell of a lot. Thank you."

He nodded with a solemn smile. "I do hope you don't make me regret thinking that."

I shook my head and smiled back. "Never. I made an oath to myself and silently to all Pokemon that I would do all within my power to help them when other humans refuse to. Other humans deserve the chance to prove they are not…" I stopped and looked at Amory. "That they're not like the ones that made you and enslaved you. However, I will always be here as the last and yet most reliable resort for those in need. It's both my career and calling in life…and so I'll always be here to do it until Arceus calls me to the afterlife."

The powerful psychic Pokemon stared at me for a moment before extending a hand towards me. I extended mine as well and grasped his wrist as he did the same to me. Our two differing auras of violet and black met at our hands, and as I watched a small part of mine passed to him, and his to me. This was accompanied by a small jolt, and then we released each other's hand.

"What was _that_?" I asked curiously.

He smiled and held his three-fingered hand palm up, showing a swirling mass of purple energy…with shining specks of black in it. "It's known as an Aura Bond, and it is a technique unique to beings that are able to sense, manipulate, and create spiritual auras. This technique has made a little of your power mine…and mine yours. Among the Sacred Ones, it is a gesture of utmost respect and trust…and you have proven yourself worthy. There is no greater honor for a human, and it will show your status to all Pokemon immediately as one trusted by us." I activated my aura, and noticed that the flames were now a mix of both black and violet. Amory continued speaking. "An Aura being's Aura is always one solid color…unless an Aura Bond has been made. Show it to any Pokemon that is apprehensive towards you, and they will know immediately that you are to be trusted. It will help with both your career and your calling as an Awakened."

I dissipated my Aura and stared at my hands, utterly speechless for the moment. After a minute or two I looked up and caught Amory's eyes, and smiled at him. "Thank you, Amory. This is the single greatest gift and vote of trust I've ever received…and I won't let you down." I looked around to the other Sacred Ones. "I will make sure I'm deserving of this…thank you."

I felt the large warm wing of Vincent, and looked up to see him smiling at me. "We know you won't, Timothy. An Awakened is the voice and burning fist of the Pokemon world…and you have already proven you are worthy of our trust, simply by how many Pokemon choose to stay with you, even when given the choice to leave and be 'free'."

I sighed and lowered my head in shame. "Yeah…I lost about half of them through asking, though."

Tess then laid her head on my shoulder with a smile. "Yes…but the fact that you asked is what makes the difference. You didn't_ have_ to give us a choice...any of us. You didn't _have_ to save me...but you did all that and more. _That_ is what makes you different, Tim."

The very feeling of trust and understanding that the Sacred Ones and Tess felt for me was incredible, and I felt a strong sense of duty overtake me. I hadn't asked if I was the only Awakened that did things like I did, but I _did_ know that I didn't care. Also, all of them considered me at the least a friend, and I had been given a gift from Amory himself.

Life is good.

* * *

As the night wrapped up we all said goodbye to Ash and his Pokemon and wished them well on their journey. The trainer himself told me he'd keep an eye out for any trainers or Pokemon that might need my help in his travels, and point them my way. Sol himself also said he would personally tell Pokemon of me, as well as any Sacred Ones they might meet. I was glad to have such a powerful and good trainer on my side, and I was honestly a little sad to see him go. Still...he had his place and I had mine.

After the guests had left - including most of the Sacred Ones - we set about cleaning up. The good thing about having so many Pokemon living with us was that cleanup took hardly any time at all. The _bad_ news was that I was now cleaned out as far as food went...but luckily the orchard was about ready to be harvested, so that made me happy. I swear, if it weren't for the berry orchard, I'd go bankrupt.

After finally settling down, I'd cracked open a few beers for myself and chilled out near a bonfire with Tess, Trisha, Michael, Amory, and Darcy. We were swapping stories of life and such as we sat around the fire, just relaxing and enjoying each other's company. Darcy had fallen asleep in my arms a little over an hour ago while Tess and Trisha took their places hanging on me in some way. Michael of course was smirking the whole time, but I just shrugged it off. For the record, I was pleasantly surprised at just how good a sense of humor Amory had when he relaxed. He was actually a lot of fun and was very kind to all the others. Considering what he'd been through, I was happy that he had turned out like this...as he could have easily become a monster. I suppose I had Taika to thank for this.

"Tim!" yelled a voice from beside my head.

I jumped a little bit and looked to see Trisha staring at me. "Huh? What's going on?"

She looked a little concerned, and even blushed a bit before speaking. "You've been staring off at nothing and completely silent for the last two hours. Are you alright?"

I shook my head a few times and even smacked myself. "Yeah...yeah, I'm good. Sorry about that, I've just been thinking about...well everything."

"C'mon, Timothy...you're not smart enough to think for that long and not fry your brain!" shouted Amory obnoxiously.

I noticed a bottle in his hand and my eyes widened as I looked over at Tessa. "Is he drunk? Why did you let him have anything to drink?"

She glared at me and pointed at him. "Do you really think I'm in a position to tell a Sacred One no?"

I stood up and rolled my eyes. "If you won't, _I _will." I walked over to the tipsy Mewtwo and snatched the bottle away, surprising him.

"Hey, I wasn't done with that!" he whined.

I sighed and threw a blanket over him. "Go to sleep, Amory...you're drunk."

He huffed and shook his head. "Psh...make me."

"Oh Taika!" I sang out.

He suddenly waved his arms wildly and shook his head. "No no! That's not necessary." He laid down on a rolled-up sleeping bag and sighed. "You don't have to call Taika on me, Timothy...I was just having some fun is all."

I shook my head. "You are _not _the kind of person that should be drinking _at all_. Just lay down and sleep it off, please. I'll see you in the morning."

He nodded and rolled over, facing away from the fire before quickly falling asleep.

Trisha then stared at me and her mouth dropped open. "How did you do that? Only Tai can usually get him to do _anything_."

I shrugged. "People tend to be more pliable when they're a little intoxicated...especially if you threaten to get them in trouble." I then looked over at his sleeping form and frowned. "Besides...during the brief time our minds touched during that Aura Bond thing, I got just a small snippet of what he's been through. I can tell you right now, he would have ended up either crying for the rest of the night or going on a rampage...and I don't know if I would have been able to stop him. Alcohol's not for everyone, believe me."

The Blaziken on my left hung on my arm and sarcastically remarked, "My hero!" This caused both Michael and Trisha to laugh, amazingly not waking the sleeping Sneasel in my lap.

Michael then floated over to his sister and nodded towards the mountains. "Come on, we should go before it gets any later."

Trisha looked at me, so I just smiled as I ran my fingertips softly along her soft neck fur. "You both can come visit anytime you like, Trish." I then chanced it and lightly kissed her cheek. "Goodnight."

The Latias was blushing like crazy as she flew away with her brother, but looked back at me and smiled.

Tess giggled as she saw this and nudged me playfully. "She _likes_ you."

I nudged her back with my shoulder and nodded. "Yes...I think she does."

"Tim!" whispered an angry-sounding Taika.

I looked over and saw she was floating just over the sleeping form of Amory, so I sighed and pointed at him. "He thought it'd be a good idea to have a beer or two...and no one thought it'd be a good idea to stop him. Don't worry though, I cut him off before he could get too drunk. He just needs to sleep it off and he'll be fine."

The Mew smiled and nodded. "Thank you Tim. Do you mind if we stay here for the night?"

I shook my head. "Not at all. Although with the both of you being free Legendaries, I would recommend the both of you stay in my guest room tonight. Wouldn't want some wandering trainer getting a cheap capture on the two of you."

She nodded and levitated the sleeping form of Amory along with her as the five of us made for the house.

* * *

The place was dark when we got inside, but thankfully my eyes had adjusted by then so that the only light I had to turn on was the one for the guest room. After Amory had been set on the bed, I bid goodnight to Taika and headed upstairs to my bedroom, Tessa following and Darcy in my arms. I gently placed Darcy in her and her brother's bedroom on the way there, which just left Tessa and I to close up the house. I turned off the last of the lights and threw my shirt off into the hamper before laying down in the soft bed, enjoying the warmth that the fire Pokemon provided.

"Mmm..." she moaned softly, pressing herself against my bare skin. She looked around the room before smirking. "You know...Rina's sleeping in Neeka's room tonight. That just leaves you and I." I smiled back, so she rolled over on top of me, straddling my waist. She rubbed her hands softly against my chest, causing me to smile. She suddenly stopped though, gasping.

I opened my eyes and looked up at her. "What?"

She kept running her clawed hands along my chest, a look of concern etched on her face. "Th-there's so many..."

I looked down and noticed she was running her fingers over my scars. I then looked up and nodded. "Yep...there's even more on my back and legs. Why do you think I don't go unclothed very often? Let's just say it's not because I think I'm fat."

She nodded. "I...I know. This is just the first time I've actually felt them."

"Well, Geanne told me they were from what I used to do in my past...though she wouldn't tell me what that is." I said with a sigh. "It's alright though...I've come to terms with them. They don't hurt anymore, and they obviously didn't kill me."

She smiled softly and nodded, leaning down to kiss a few of the scars softly with the soft part of her beak before sitting up again with a sultry smile on her face. "Now then, where were we?"

I smiled back and turned off the bedside light, looking forward to what this amazing girl had in store for me.


	7. Ch 7: Life Redux

**A/N: Hey there everyone! Frostbreaker here with a chapter for ya. A little late, but I hope you enjoy it all the same. As always, please R&R and let me know what you thought.**

**Music choice: "Deference for Darkness" from _Halo 3 – ODST_, and "Gadot – The Fragrance of Dark Coffee(Turnabout Jazz)" originally from the _Phoenix Wright_ game series.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or original story elements associated with the Pokemon series, manga, or game. All rights go to their respective owners. **

* * *

Chapter 7: Life Redux

I smiled as I watched Tessa sleep, awed at how she could be so wrathful and strong during a fight, yet gentle and feminine when it counted. We had gone all the way for the first time the night prior, and my mind was still reeling from it…but in a good way. There was no doubt in my mind that I was glad I had shared this with the Blaziken that was currently in my grasp, but a part of me still missed Geanne. I mean, would she be mad at me for this? Would she forgive me? Would it break her heart? All these thoughts ran through my mind very quickly and frantically, and I started to feel a little guilty. These were short lived, however, when Tessa's warm body shifted a bit in her position on top of me and she did a sort of cute purring sound in her sleep. Geanne had told me to remember her and that she would return, but to keep living my life. I had found it strange that when she had said that, she had looked at Tess.

It made sense now…she knew what would happen.

In all actuality, neither of us had gotten much sleep the night before. As I looked at how she was still laying on top of me with her hips connected at mine and laying her chest against mine, it was pretty clear she basically fell asleep in the same position she was while awake last night. Luckily with some practice, she had learned to keep herself from burning me during heightened arousal, so I could safely tease and be intimate with her now without fear of ending up in the hospital with second or third-degree burns. While this was the first time we'd ever done ___this_, it definitely wasn't the first time we'd been physical with each other.

After some prompting from a few of the friendlier locals telling me it was alright, I had taken to being more affectionate with Tess in public as well…often going so far as looping her arm in mine or holding hands as we would walk around town during the few times I would have time to just walk around and enjoy the scenery. A few of the children that had taken a liking to Tess – as well as their parents – had blatantly asked me if I was romantically involved with the Blaziken that walked by my side…to which I replied yes, without hesitation. This caused a bit of a stir in the community, as while Cianwood was considered one of the more accepting areas of Pokemon-human relations, I was so far the first and only one that was known to live there. After I had explained to them about my ability to communicate to her through normal speech, they quickly understood and let it go. I was happy about this, as while I was comfortable with most of the residents, I still enjoyed my privacy.

I was snapped out of my thoughts when Tessa started moaning a bit in her sleep while rocking her hips against me softly, instantly sending a jolt of pleasure and arousal through my entire body. When I looked down at her though, I noticed her eyes were closed, and she didn't respond when I whispered her name. ___'She must be having one hell of a dream.'_

Oh well…round two it is, then.

* * *

Tessa fell down on my chest again, her body radiating large amounts of heat. Both of us were sweating and breathing heavily, but as Tess bathed in her afterglow she was smiling. Suddenly though, she sat up with wide eyes staring at me in shock.

"Oh…oh no…that wasn't a dream, was it?" she asked, a panicked expression on her face.

I chuckled and shook my head. "No…it wasn't. Why, did you wish it didn't happen?

She looked a little ashamed and shook her head. "N-no, it was amazing. I just…" She gulped and looked at me in fear. "I basically just ___raped _you in my sleep."

I laughed loudly and shook my head. "Believe me, it was consensual. You started it, but we both finished it." I then smirked. "So, what was the dream about?"

Finally she smirked back and dismounted me, lying at my side instead and covering my lower half with the blanket. "It was a repeat of last night, but with some changes."

I raised an eyebrow as I looked at her with a smirk. "Really now? Like what?"

She giggled cutely and pressed her body against me as I rubbed her stomach gently. "Well it was kind of weird, actually. I had…breasts…and I was all, curvy-like. Like a human female. I mean I liked the look, but it was a little…strange."

I chuckled, but instantly stopped as I brought a hand up to caress the soft feathers of her face. On the way up, my hand touched a soft mount on her chest…and my eyes widened in shock. "Umm Tess, it wasn't just a dream."

"What do you mean it wasn't-" she stopped talking once her hand reached where mine was, and she gasped at the new sensation before screaming. "W-w-what the ___fuck_!" She then looked at me in shock and stuttered. "I-I'm sorry about that."

___'Welcome to the second layer of mind-fuckedness, Tim.'_

I just stared at the Blaziken in shock and surprise, taking a moment to find my voice. "Did you just curse? Where did you learn language like that? I don't think I've ever dropped the f-bomb before…at least not around you."

She sighed, but still looked very stressed. "Sorry...my old trainer had a dirty mouth."

I nodded softly. "Okay, well that answers that…but why then…" I gestured to her chest.

She shrugged with a look of utter confusion on her face before standing up…and I instantly saw that her chest wasn't the only thing that had changed.

Her figure had become much more defined in both muscular tone and femininity. The layer of feathers that covered her body seemed to have gotten shorter or something because I could now very clearly see her abdominal muscles, as well as the defined muscles of her arms and legs. While definitely built for fighting, her body still held the slightly widened hips that a human female would have…and this just further confused me. What the hell had happened? I mean she was arguably even more attractive now than before, but why? What the hell was going on?

She had much the same reaction when she strode over to the full-length mirror that was hanging on the wall by my window, and she turned to me in shock. "What's happening to me?"

I tapped a finger on my chin and thought for a moment before nodding with a resolute expression. "I know someone that'll be able to answer that. C'mon, let's get cleaned up and go downstairs." I then looked back at the bed and promptly gathered up the bed linens along with my clothes and put them all in the hamper, and then I wrapped myself in a towel and headed to the washroom to clean up.

* * *

After taking a shower, brushing my teeth, and shaving, I put on a clean pair of jeans and an open button-up sleeveless shirt, letting the comfortable air of early fall waft through the shirt as it kissed my skin. As Tess took to the shower, I bounded downstairs and started preparing breakfast for the two of us, as Brutus and the Sneasel siblings were out preparing breakfast for the Pokemon that couldn't or didn't know how to hunt and gather for themselves.

Jade had snuck up and I jumped a bit when she giggled from behind me. I turned to see her smiling. "I know what _you_ did last night, Timothy."

I chuckled and nodded while I started frying some eggs for Tess and I. "Not just last night, this morning too."

"Really? Well…it is good to know that the training has paid off." She responded with a coy smile.

I chuckled and nodded. "Yeah, because that's ___definitely _what I've been training for." I then pointed to the cupboard. "Jade, could you get out a cup and fill it with water and two seltzer tabs? And smash 'em up so they dissolve fast."

She looked at me in confusion. "Why? Not feeling well?"

"Not for me…just get it ready. You'll see why in a moment." I responded while scrambling the eggs and dropping some chopped potatoes, peppers, and ham in it.

She shrugged and did as I asked, and not a moment too soon. Amory was levitating slowly towards us from the hallway of the guest room with Taika following, a concerned look on her face.

I placed the glass of fizzy alkaline-water in front of him with a small smile. "Drink that. It won't taste all that great, but it'll get rid of the headache and the grogginess." The Mewtwo nodded and promptly upended the contents of the glass into his mouth, swallowing with a grimace. I then refilled the cup with some fresh water and handed it to him with a smile. "So, what have we learned?"

He shook his head slowly as he sat at the counter, elbows on the countertop while he rubbed his temples gently. "I don't think I'll ___ever_ drink again."

I chuckled as I served up two bowls of my breakfast mix. "Yeah. Seeing as how you're a psychic Pokemon, I kinda figured something that is ___meant _to make your mind fuzzy would have a much stronger effect on you. I recommend you stick with water or berry juice from now on."

He nodded slowly and sipped the water. The smiling Mew then floated over and gave me a small hug from behind. "Thanks for letting us stay the night, Timothy. I don't know if we would have been able to teleport safely with him like that."

I smiled and nodded towards her. "No problem, Taika. You two are welcome at any time." I then opened the fridge and reached in to grab a small bowl of pecha berries, and handed them to her. "I figured that Amory probably wouldn't be hungry, but I made sure to get you some of your favorite berries for breakfast. Eat up."

The Mew smiled brightly and nodded, sitting down next to Amory and eating the pink berries in a dainty manner.

I then turned around and pulled a small bowl of different fruits and berries out of the fridge, as well as two stalks of celery and some oran berry juice. With a smile, I handed it to Jade. "Here you go, Jade. A breakfast fit for a queen." She rolled her eyes with a smile before using two vines to the bowl as she ate.

I heard the washroom door open and the soft sound of feet upon the steps, so I figured it could only be Tessa. I smirked when I realized just how shocked everyone was going to be.

Amory was the first to look up, and even in his still-slightly-hungover state, his eyes widened in shock. "W-what? What happened?"

This caused the entire group to also look up at the stairs, and I just chuckled as she descended and entered the kitchen. With clean and shiny feathers, Tess actually seemed to be glowing.

"Tessa, you're…different." Jade remarked, a look of shock on her face.

Tess just smirked, obviously enjoying the looks since her shock from this morning had worn off. She entered the kitchen next to me and leaned back against the counter in a very sexy pose, smirking even more. "Why yes, I am different. This is definitely a _good_ different, though." She then looked at me and ran her hands sensually over her body, slowly. "Wouldn't you say so, Timothy?"

I chuckled nervously and thrust the bowl of breakfast mix to her with a fork. "I can tell already that you're going to use this against me somehow."

She giggled and took the bowl. "Oh come on Tim, it's only a tease if you don't get a prize." She then leaned in close and ran the tip of her narrow tongue along my neck. "Well don't worry…if you're a good boy, maybe I'll let you _touch_ a little sometimes."

I shivered and thanked Arceus that I decided to wear jeans today to hide the inadvertent excitement that she was enacting upon me. She smirked again and sat down next to Taika and began eating.

* * *

After finishing eating and cleaning up, I sat down in front of my computer with Tess and typed in Lance's number. A little icon appeared on the monitor that signaled it was calling, and before I knew it, Lance's face popped up on the screen.

"Timothy? Wow, it's been awhile. How are you?" he asked with a smile.

I smiled back and waved. "Hey Lance! I'm doing good, man. How have you been?"

I shrugged. "Alright I suppose. Drake and I are just checking out some sort of disturbance at Mount Moon in Kanto."

I nodded. "Is Drake there right now? I need to talk to him."

Lance nodded back and handed his PokeGear to the large dragon. Drake's face was seen next, and he was smiling as well. "Timothy? Well, it is good to hear from you, friend. How can I help you?"

I sighed and turned the camera to Tessa. "Any idea how this happened to Tessa?"

The dragon's eyes widened as he looked at her, and then he handed the device to his trainer. Lance looked shocked as well, but smirked. "Well well, quite a beauty you have there, Timothy. Well done. Who's that?" I heard Drake tell him it was Tessa, and this just caused the dragon master's eyes to nearly jump out of his head. "Tess? Wow…this is unexpected."

Drake then took the device back and smiled. "So…you two got a little _physical_, did you?"

My mouth dropped open in shock. "H-how did you know?"

He chuckled and shook his head. "Part of the fun of being an Awakened. You see, your deep connection to your friends will enact a change within them, making them more humanoid in form. The stronger the bond, the faster the change." He then grinned. "Usually this process takes a year or so even with a strong bond, but with it only having been a little over a month since you have awakened, I know that there was only one thing that could cause a stronger change this fast."

I raised an eyebrow with skepticism. "Wait, what about Pokemon like Rina or better yet, Jade? Rina's not bipedal, and Jade doesn't even have limbs anymore. What about them?"

He nodded solemnly. "Them too. Because of this, you might want to tell all of them about this. It stands to reason that some of them would not enjoy this change too much."

I sighed and shook my head. "So it's likely that even more are going to leave then…"

He nodded. "Yes…possibly. They deserve the right to choose what they wish to be, however. You have impressed many of us already with your compassion. Please, do not prove us wrong in placing our trust in you."

I nodded and smiled. "You're right Drake. Thanks. Why are they changing into more humanoid shapes though?"

He shrugged. "That is something I do not completely understand either. All I know is that the few Pokemon Awakened have had the opposite effect on humans, changing them into a still humanoid but more Pokemon-esque form, complete with Pokemon abilities and elemental type. This is one of the times I truly wish we could simply ask Arceus why it did this. Nonetheless, you need to make this known to all of those who stay with you before any irreversible changes happen to them." He then looked at Tessa and sighed. "It's true, Tessa. Likely, this new form is going to be permanent for you."

She shrugged with a smile. "It isn't very different from my old form, just a bit…bouncier. I'm okay with it, really."

Drake nodded with a grin. "Good. Alright, don't waste time. Every second these friends of yours are near you is another second that will lead to little changes. Get moving." The screen then flashed, and he was gone.

I looked at Tess and sighed. "Well, let's get this over with. I have a feeling we're going to lose a lot of them."

She nodded to me but smiled. "True, but it will be okay. They won't ___all_leave, and you'll always have friends here."

"Yeah." I responded despondently. I then stood up and popped my back a few times. "Well, let's get this over with."

* * *

As I expected, I lost ___most _of them to this announcement. Where once the number was fifty-six, the number of Pokemon I kept with me had now dwindled to twenty-two…meaning over half of them left. Save for my "core group", ___most_ of the ones that had stayed were humanoid in form to begin with, so it was pretty clear why they wouldn't have a problem with said change. The two Sneasel siblings had chosen to stay, for example...but so had Neeka – a Nidoqueen – and Titus – a male Typhlosion. Raikou and his brother and sister had also opted to stay, so I didn't feel ___too _bad about the whole situation.

Still, by the time we all headed back inside for lunch, nearly everyone knew that I was feeling pretty bad about the whole situation. When I actually thought about it clearly, I knew it was for the best, as I didn't want to force any of them to do or be anything they didn't want to do or be. Still...to think out of an original hundred of the box, I now had less than twenty of them that still chose to stay.

An eighty-percent loss is not a good track record.

Tai and Amory had already left by this time, so it was just the twenty of us all sitting together outside eating. Orpheus was trying to lighten the mood by telling jokes, but it didn't work much for me. Still, everyone else was laughing at his antics, so I put on a brave face and did the same. After all, it wouldn't be right to sit there and be a killjoy for the entire group just because I have issues.

Jade and the rest of my "core group" weren't fooled though, so Tess, Jade, Darcy, Rina and even Brutus sat around me, making sure I didn't feel alone. It seemed like a foolish gesture, but after a few minutes I actually did start to feel better. Even when looking at Orpheus and Gunnar I could see a knowing look in their eyes. It seems that my friends knew me better than I knew myself...and I was truly Arceus-blessed to have them.

"Timothy Maxwell?" shouted a voice from the front of the house.

I stood up and nodded. "Thanks guys, but it looks like I've got work to do." I then looked at Tessa, who had begun to stand up. "You can come if you want, Tess." She nodded and stood up, taking her place at my side as we walked towards the front of the house.

* * *

When we arrived, we found a very upset looking male trainer with a very depressed looking Absol and Riolu. He almost snarled at me when he spoke, "You're Timothy Maxwell, right? That Pokemon therapist guy?"

I stared at him and set my feet, expecting an attack or something else. "Umm...yeah. Why?"

He then threw two objects to me with a huff of disappointment, staring at the two Pokemon that stood beside him, who were now staring at him in shock. I fumbled catching whatever they were at first, but when I had a good grasp on them, I brought them to eye level and noticed that they were actually blue Pokeballs with magenta stripes – Great Balls.

The two Pokemon looked in shock at the trainer and he just shook his head in disdain. "They're you're problem now, dude."

"Wait, ___what_?! What are you talking about?" I asked, only to receive no answer as he walked away...the two Pokemon staying behind. It was only then that I realized what this slimy piece of shit had done to these two Pokemon...and it just pissed me off. "That no-good greasy son of a cum-guzzling whorebag!" My anger ebbed away at my short outburst and I turned to the dark-type and fighting-type Pokemon with a sad smile. "I'm really sorry about what happened...for both of you."

"D-did he really just abandon us?" the female Absol squeaked out, barely containing a sob.

I sighed and nodded. "It looks that way."

She gasped and stared at me. "You can understand us?" I decided to use the little gift that Amory gave me and let my new dual-colored aura flow through my arms. When the color showed to the Absol, she gasped again and bowed her head. "The Sacred Gift! Oh, I'm so sorry, I didn't know..."

I dissipated my aura and shook my head. "I'm not mad at you or anything, I promise. I'm mad at your now ex-trainer who was a major tool and decided to dump you for whatever reason."

Tessa stepped forward slowly and smiled. "I agree...that was a cowardly and horrible thing to do on his part."

The Absol stared at Tess in confusion. "You look...umm...___different_ from a normal Blaziken."

"Yeah...that's ___his_ fault." Tess remarked, pointing at me.

I then pointed at the young Riolu curiously. "What about you, are you okay?"

"He uh...he doesn't talk." the Absol responded.

I sighed and shook my head. "Very well. So, what are your names? Mine's Timothy Maxwell." I then motioned to Tessa. "And this is my partner Tessa."

The Absol stood in front of the Riolu as it cowered behind her. "I'm Mizuki." She then motioned to the small blue Pokemon behind her. "He's Dante."

"Dante, hmm? Well...that's a strong name." I remarked, finally getting the small fighting-type to look at me in curiosity. "Well look, I don't know what happened and in all honesty, I don't want to know right now. What I ___can_ see at the moment is that both of you are tired, bruised, and dirty. So let's get you both cleaned up, fixed up, and rested. You can tell us what happened later, okay?" It was then that I heard a stomach growl from their direction. "And fed. Food is good."

* * *

We all walked inside and Tessa immediately led the two up to the master bathroom to freshen up while I started preparing some food for them in the kitchen. It was then that Rina and her new best friend Neeka decided to come in. The two were kindred spirits, it seemed. Despite Neeka's mature form, she was every bit as playful and bubbly as Rina was, which I actually found a little strange considering her appearance. She was a "shiny" as well, like Geanne was. Instead of her skin being the aqua blue it should have been, it was instead a soft forest green, with the same tan highlights. A difference, however, was that she had wild-looking darker green stripes that ran around her arms and legs…and she was also five feet tall – nearly a foot taller than the others of her species. Still, she was endearing and I couldn't help but smile at her antics whenever she was around.

"Tim!" the Nidoqueen squealed before embracing me in a tight hug, Rina rubbing her cheek on my stomach. That was another thing the two had in common…they were very physically affectionate towards those they cared about.

I chuckled as the two crowded me and returned the embrace the best I could. "Hey girls. It's always good to see you two. What's up?" Rina stepped away to allow me to keep making the food, but Neeka kept her face on my arm, her poison barb jabbing my arm lightly. "Careful Neeka, I don't want to get poisoned again."

She stepped away to allow me some room to move, but still kept a firm grasp on the hemline of my shirt. "Sorry Tim. Anyway, nothing much is going on outside other than training. It's kinda boring actually, so we thought we'd come inside to see you!"

I turned to her as I finished putting together a small meal for two and set the plates on the counter. "I thought you ___liked_ to battle, Neeka."

She shrugged. "I don't know. I mean it's different, but I kinda like not having to fight all the time anymore. Maybe there's something to this 'lounging' thing." She leaned back against the counter next to me, and I wrapped an arm around her shoulders. She motioned to the food on the counter. "What's with the food? We already ate an hour ago."

"Well, it appears we have two new additions. I'm unsure as to whether or not it'll be permanent though." I said with a downcast expression. "Their trainer basically asked if I was Timothy Maxwell, and then dumped them on me."

"Wait, what? A trainer just abandoned his Pokemon? Why?" Rina asked, concern now filling her.

I shrugged. "I didn't get a chance to ask. After the two settle in, I'll ask them."

"That's horrible…" Neeka responded, sadness now in her voice.

I nodded with a sad smile. "Yep…it is. Anyway, Tess is upstairs with them right now treating their wounds and getting them washed up. When they come down, you can both meet them."

Rina gasped in surprise. "Wounds? Why are they hurt?"

I sighed and rolled my eyes. "Rina I'm sorry, but I don't know. I don't know anything about either of them, so please stop asking questions." I placed the two plates on the bar counter with a glass of juice each, then turned back to the two Pokemon behind me. "Now the Absol seems to be just fine, if not a little shocked, but the Riolu is really shy…and he doesn't speak. Please try and be welcoming and calm around them. I don't want to scare or intimidate them, especially the Riolu."

The two nodded and the back door opened again, this time revealing a familiar Latias and Latios as they phased in to visibility. Michael floated towards me and smiled. "Hey Timothy, I hope you don't mind us dropping by."

I shook my head with a smile. "Not at all. You guys are always welcome here, you know that. Hope you aren't planning on a meal just yet though, as you missed lunch."

The Latios shook his head with a smile. "No, we've already eaten. Do you mind if we join you for dinner though?"

"I'd be insulted if you didn't, good sir." I responded with a grin. I then placed a finger on my chin. "Actually, there's two Pokemon I'd like the two of you to meet. Their male phallus of a trainer decided to dump them on me." I growled and shook my head. "Just to be clear, I'm not upset with them in any way, as we have more than enough room here and you know how I am. I'm angry that I've had to meet yet another careless trainer. What a waste of space…"

The Sacred siblings floated over to me and put a hand each on my shoulders. Michael smiled at me and nodded. "We'd be happy to meet with them, Tim. Anything we can do to help."

I nodded and smiled. "Thanks you two. I really appreciate it." The two of them nodded and released me. I heard the sound of a door opening upstairs and the sound of multiple footsteps on the wood floors. "Well, here they come."

Tess descended the stairs with a clean and bandaged Absol and Riolu in tow. They looked loads better, and while bandages on the two Pokemon were a little disheartening to see, it was loads better than dirt and open cuts.

Mizuki gasped as soon as she saw the two Sacred Ones, and she immediately bowed her head in reverence. "Lord Latios and Lady Latias…it is an honor." The Riolu looked confused for a moment before doing his own little bow, then they both rose. "To what do we owe the pleasure?"

Michael smiled and motioned towards me. "We were just visiting our friend here and heard he had some new arrivals."

Trisha then took a somber mood. "He's told us of what's happened to you both." As their heads drooped in sorrow, she made her way over to the two of them and nodded her head towards me. "I will tell you that I know Timothy is nothing like your old trainer. He is caring and gentle, and would never abandon any of his friends or family."

The Absol cocked her head in confusion. "But we were just his Pokemon, Lady Latias. We weren't his friends."

The Latias smiled and shook her head. "Therein lies his most fundamental of mistakes. A Pokemon and his or her trainer should be the very best of friends. It is the only way that both can live and grow properly."

Mizuki looked from her to me, then back to her. "Are you his Pokemon?"

Before Trish could answer, I did so for her. "No, she's not mine. Let me just say that the Pokemon that stay with me have done so of their own free will. I don't believe that Pokemon are property…they're people, just like me. That being said, I have not 'captured' Lady Latias. She and her brother are simply close friends of mine."

"You're friends with Sacred Ones?" the Absol responded in surprise.

I chuckled and nodded. "I'm one of the Awakened, Mizuki…I'm friends with a lot more Sacred Ones than just them. If the two of you decide to stay, you'll meet most or all of them."

She eyed me curiously, stepping towards me and looking up at my face. "You're giving us a choice?"

I nodded. "My calling is to help Pokemon, wherever they may be from and whatever they may have gone through. I would ___like_you both to stay, but I'm not going to force you to." She looked like she was about to speak, but I silenced her with a raise of my hand. "Before the two of you make your decision, there's something you should know about me." I looked over to the Riolu and motioned him over, and he tentatively stepped towards Mizuki and stood close to her. I sighed and closed my eyes. "Being an Awakened is having an effect on the Pokemon around me." I pointed at Tessa. "Remember when she said that the way she looks was my fault? Well…that's because it _is_. She wasn't joking at all about that. Every Pokemon that I have a positive relationship with will change form. For Tessa here, it was only slightly, as she was already humanoid in shape." I then pointed at Mizuki. "For you though, it would be a big change. You would become able to walk on two legs, your height would probably increase, and you might become more…curvy."

"Curvy?" Mizuki responded, confusion clear in her voice.

I nodded. "Like a human female."

Even with her black skin, I could see the Absol blush a bit. "O-oh, I see."

I nodded again. "Yeah. It could take about a year or more, but eventually it ___will_ happen. All I'm saying is take that into account before you make a decision." I then looked at the Riolu. "As far as you, Dante, I don't think there'd be much of a change at all. You might get taller, but seeing as how you're male that's probably it." Both of them nodded, so I smiled. "Well, I'm glad you both understand. Anyway, I know the two of you are probably hungry. I've fixed you both some dinner and there's a few open rooms for you to use. I want you to eat a good dinner, then get a good sleep. Don't make your decision right now, sleep on it and think about it…then tell me tomorrow."

"We get our own rooms?" Mizuki asked, now in shock again.

I laughed and motioned to Neeka. "She had the same reaction when I first told her. Yes, you both get your own rooms…or you can share one. It's up to you both. To answer another question that will undoubtedly come up, no…you don't need to sleep in your Pokeballs. You can use a bed that's in the room." She gasped again, but I cut her off with a nod. "Yes, you get to sleep in a bed." I then grabbed the two plates of food and set them down on the short family room table, along with the two glasses of juice. "Well, you two eat up. I have some things to do, so I'll be outside for about twenty minutes if you need me. Tessa can help you with most anything you'd need though, but don't hesitate to come find me if you need me." I then turned around and walked outside to meet with Brutus and Gunnar.

******Tessa's PoV**

As Tim walked outside to train and meet with the rest of the residents, I decided to be lazy for a day by sitting on the couch and relaxing. After all, I'd worked hard with Tim while training during the past week, so I figured one day off wouldn't kill me. Lady Latias and Lord Latios were out with Tim, so I decided to lounge and watch TV while keeping the two new Pokemon company. The strange flattened device looked like a useless slab of plastic at first, but it was clear that there was a lot more to human technology than meets the eye.

I used the controller device to turn the TV on before relaxing into the soft couch. There ___was_ a constructive reason for watching television, after all. Little by little, I was learning how to read human language. I figured that if I was to be staying with Timothy, being able to read would be helpful. Not that I was planning on going anywhere.

Not like ___her_.

I had liked Geanne a lot. She was my first friend outside of Timothy, and we had grown close very fast. That all changed, however, when she left. I don't hate her – I don't think I could ever truly ___hate_ her – but I was definitely very disappointed in her. I mean, she ___kinda_ told us where she was going, but not why. I remember for the longest time Tim thought it was him, and the very thought broke him. I think that what angered me the most was that I considered her a good friend, and while I didn't have much experience with friendship – or positive relationships in general – I was pretty sure that friends didn't just abandon each other.

As I sat on the sofa and let my mind wander, I was joined by the Nidoqueen, Neeka. While she may have been a bit childish for what her evolution would suggest, she was still a good friend to me, and loyal as well. Like Brutus, she had been one of the first Pokemon Tim caught, and so had known him quite a bit longer than any of the rest of us had. She was undoubtedly upset at being sent to be in stasis in a Pokemon Box, but after a lot of apologies she forgave Timothy and came to live with him.

"Ugh…what a day." she groaned out loud, gently sitting down beside me.

I giggled as I kept an eye on the Absol and Riolu in front of us. "Eh, it's not so bad. At least it's a nice day out today."

She rolled her eyes with a giggle. "That's why I like you, Tess. Always looking on the bright side."

I shrugged. "Well, you know me. There's always a silver lining."

She giggled and lay her head down in my lap, closing her eyes to rest. I remember the first time she did this, I freaked out a little. Needless to say that because of my past, I wasn't used to such open physical contact from anyone but Tim. He explained to me though that she was just like that, same as Rina. The two of them were very touchy-feely Pokemon, and while I still didn't really know ___why_, it didn't bother me anymore. I just warned her that the second her hand touched my thigh, I was going to kick her. No problems after that.

The next sensation I felt was a soft pawing below my knee, and I looked to see the Riolu named Dante holding an empty plate and glass.

"If you're all finished, just put them on the counter near the sink so Timothy can wash them." I said with a smile. He nodded with an almost undetectable smile of his own before gathering up Mizuki's dishes as well and scampering off to the kitchen. I then looked at the Absol with confusion. "Can he really not talk or does he just choose not to?"

She looked back at me and sighed sadly. "I don't know. All I know is that he hasn't spoken since he was caught, I don't know about before that."

I looked back over to the kitchen area to see the small fighting Pokemon standing on his tip-toes to reach the counter. "He seems awfully shy for a Riolu too. Any ideas about that?"

Mizuki shook her head. "Same thing, he's always been that way."

"Hmm..." I hummed to myself. "Well he seems like an okay pup. Hopefully with some time he'll open up. Haha...rhyme."

"You're such a dork." said Neeka, who was still laying in my lap.

I groaned and nodded. "Ugh, you're right. Tim is rubbing off on me."

She giggled and smiled, still not opening her eyes. "I bet that's not the only thing he rubbed on you." I gasped and slapped her chest lightly. "Ow!" She rubbed her skin for a moment and then grinned. "Oh please, don't be such a prude. We all heard you...and I _mean_ all of us."

"So you and Mr. Maxwell are...together?" asked the Absol in front of us.

I nodded as Dante walked back into the room, taking his place next to Mizuki. "Yep, we are. You don't have a problem with that, do you?"

She shrugged. "To be honest it's a little weird. I've never heard of a trainer being _that_ close to a Pokemon before."

I shrugged right back and smiled. "What's to say that a certain man won't change your mind though?" I then looked away and held a somber look. "I mean, I was _raped _by my last trainer, Mizuki." She gasped and I nodded. "Yes...he raped me. I _never_ thought I would ever be able to trust humans again – and never in my wildest dreams thought I'd _ever_ fall for one – but it happened. I'm not saying that you would ever find yourself in a relationship like mine...all I'm saying is never rule anything out. Truly _anything_ is possible." I looked off in space and smiled softly. "He truly has a gift for understanding Pokemon, Mizuki. If you give him a chance, I'm pretty confident you would like him as well."

"Well..." she mused softly, "he does seem pretty nice. I mean, he didn't _have _to take us in, after all. Besides, if the Sacred Ones like him, that has to mean something."

I nodded. "Yeah and get this, he caught all three of the Legendary Beasts of Johoto. When he asked them if they wanted to go free, they _chose_ to stay with him."

She gasped, which I expected. "Wait wait wait, you mean he gave them the choice and they chose to stay? I don't believe that."

As if on cue, Raikou opened the door and stuck his head in, then looked to me. "Tessa, have you seen Timothy?"

I nodded. "Yeah, he's outside somewhere training with Brutus and Gunnar. Just follow the blasts of fire and the roars." He nodded and left, then I turned to the Absol with a smirk. "You were saying?"

Her mouth was hanging open in shock. "Y-you spoke to him like he was just a normal Pokemon. W-why..."

"No," I started, twirling my finger I the air, "I spoke to him like a _friend_. See that's the problem with most Pokemon, they treat the Sacred Ones as gods or something. They're very important to this world and deserve our respect and reverence...but they want friends just like other Pokemon. I don't know if it's simply because he's an Awakened or because he's just him, but Timothy is on a first-name basis with all of the Sacred Ones he's met so far."

Mizuki lowered her head in thought. "Wow...he seems like quite a guy."

"I like him." said a voice that sounded like a young human boy.

I didn't know the voice, so I knew it wasn't Neeka or Mizuki. That only left...

"Dante? Did you just talk?" I asked the small Riolu. He nodded. "It's good to know you can actually communicate, but why?"

He shrugged. "My mama told me that you can learn a lot by just keeping your mouth shut and listening. She was right. Just in the time I've been here, I've learned that Mr. Timothy is an Awakened, he's friends to the Sacred Ones, and he's a good human."

"B-but why didn't you ever talk to us before? To _me_?" the Absol nearly yelled.

He shrugged with a smug look. "There was never any need to until now."

I just stared at the young fighting-type, dumbstruck. "I knew Riolu were smart, but...wow."

"I can also read...and write." Dante said smugly.

I sighed and shook my head. "I'm not even going to ask _how_ you can do that, but bravo."

Mizuki was frozen in shock. Here was a Pokemon who thought she knew Dante much better than I did, only to find that not only could he read and write human language, but he _could_ speak. In honesty I kinda felt bad for her, but I knew she'd get over it soon. After all, she was shocked...not broken.

The white feline-like Pokemon stood up and walked towards the door. "Forgive me, but I need a minute."

She then walked out the door. I turned to Dante and sighed. "You should probably check on her. She's beyond upset right now, and she needs you."

He stood up and nodded. "You're right. I'll be back later. If Mr. Timothy comes back, tell him that we're okay."

I nodded as he walked out the door after his friend, then sighed loudly. "Well...this day is turning out just great."

"I know, right? Here I am just relaxing in what is arguably a _very_ comfortable spot, and all this happens." Neeka spoke up, still laying her head in my lap.

At that moment, Timothy threw open the door with a panicked expression. "Neeka, Tessa! Get outside, we got a _big_ problem!"

* * *

**Tim's PoV**

I knew it was too good to be true. Things had been just too quiet and too calm, and I knew in my heart that it had to come to an end at some point. Well, my heart had been right, it seems.

We had been hearing about isolated incidents from Team Rocket for awhile now, and I don't know why I assumed we would be safe. You see, _my_ Pokemon group was safe.

Michael and Trisha were not.

A group of some of the higher trained Rocket troopers were battling both of the Sacred Ones in a very unfair fight – twelve on one, for each of them. The Rockets had created some sort of device that only disabled captured Pokemon, and had thrown it in the middle of my group. All of them were unconscious, even Gunnar. Luckily for me, the blast hadn't reached the house, so I still had Neeka and Tessa.

If they had another one of those weird grenades though, we were screwed.

Michael and his sister weren't coveted by Team Rocket for no reason. They were extremely powerful, intelligent, and agile. Still, the Rockets had done their homework. An entire slew of ice-type and ghost-type Pokemon were their opponents...and even though they were fighting valiantly, they were slowly tiring. It wouldn't be too long before they were weak enough to capture, so I had to do something fast.

I had gained a lot of power through my training, and was very confident in my abilities. Still...even _I _couldn't take on more than maybe two Pokemon at once. That's why I had to get Tessa. She was much more powerful than I was, and could fight a lot longer than me. Also – even though she'd never admit it – Neeka was no slouch either.

As we rushed to the scene, I could see that Trisha had fallen asleep due to an ability by one of her opponents. One of the Rocket trainers had just thrown an Ultra Ball at her, so I activated my Aura and sprinted towards the fight.

I arrived just in time to smack the ball away and snarled at the trainer. "What the hell do you think you're doing? This _isn't_ happening." By this point, the four trainers were staring at me, eyes wide and jaws open. I growled at them menacingly and took a fighting stance, as did Neeka and Tessa. "Now, leave so I don't have to cave in your skulls."

"Who the fuck are you?" one of the burlier grunts grunted, ironically.

I activated my Aura and let the flames cover my legs and arms. "I'm Timothy Maxwell." They all looked at each other in surprise, and I nodded. "Yeah, that one."

An older man of graying hair stepped forward, the buttons of his suit shining brightly in the mid-afternoon sun. "Look boy, we're only here for the two Legendaries. They're not captured yet, so there's no law saying we can't. Leave, and we won't hurt you."

I laughed mirthfully. "_You_ hurt _me_? _That's_ a laugh." As I said this, he reached in his coat jacket and pulled out a large magnum revolver. The instant I saw it, I activated my Aura's power and dashed towards him. It was true what Lance said, I moved much faster in this form than as an average human, although to me _they_ were just moving really slow. Before he could fire a shot off, I popped the loader out and unloaded all the bullets into my hand, then dashed back to my starting spot. When time "sped up" again to normal, I heard a click from the hammer hitting empty spots in the loader.

"What the-" the man started.

I whistled and opened my hand, showing six brass-colored bullets. "Looking for these?" Before I could let a smug grin emerge from my lips, four shots rang out...and my chest and shoulder started to feel really warm...

* * *

**Vincent's PoV**

Something was very wrong, though I knew not what. I could _feel_ it...but I couldn't tell what it was. I _could_ tell _where_ it was though, so I headed towards the destination – Timothy's house.

When I arrived, I found a horrid scene. Two humans were seriously injured, one was dead, and two were simply tied up in vines. The most shocking scene however, was that of Timothy. He was laying in the grasp of Latias and his mate Tessa, and both were crying in despair. Upon his chest and his shoulder were four wounds...wounds I knew well.

Bullet wounds.

I looked at the humans, then Tessa, then the humans, then back to Tessa. "The humans...did _they_ do this?"

She nodded slowly. "They were trying to catch Lady Latias and Lord Latios. Tim tried to stop them, but they shot him with guns instead of fight him fairly."

I sighed and lowered my head sadly. "They are Team Rocket, young one. They know not of honor nor fairness. Anything is justifiable if it makes them profit." I then looked to the bleeding Awakened. "We must get him to a hospital with haste. His life force is strong, and his Aura protected his organs. He is still very much in danger of bleeding to death, however." I lowered myself to the ground and held my wing out to her. "Climb on. I will get us to Goldenrod City with speed." The Blaziken nodded before climbing aboard with Tim in her arms. I felt her grab hold of my fur tightly, so I stood up and looked to Latias and Latios. "The two of you deal with these humans. The ones left living I want released in a faraway city. The deceased...bury him in the woods. None will know what happened here." I focused my mind and destroyed the memories of the four living humans, then took flight to the metropolitan city of Goldenrod.

* * *

We arrived a little over twenty minutes later, but in that short time Timothy's condition had deteriorated rapidly. Halfway through the trip, he had lost consciousness. As we came upon the city, I could very clearly feel him shivering on my back. Opting for immodesty, I did not cloak myself, and instead landed in full view of the citizens of the city. Some fled in fear, but most simply stared in awe of me. _'That _never_ gets old.'_

I looked around towards the hospital and projected the voice of my mind. _"Doctor! We need a doctor immediately!"_ Luckily for Timothy, a few seconds later a young doctor _did_ appear.

He stared at me in awe for a moment like the others, but then noticed Timothy on my back. "Oh my...what's happened to him?"

As the Blaziken slid off of my back with him, I sighed in disgust. _"Team Rocket did this, young human."_

The doctor looked shocked that I was speaking to him, but then nodded and looked over the wounds. "He has what appears to be four gunshot entry wounds, but no exit wounds. How long has he been injured?"

"_A little over twenty-two minutes."_ I responded tersely.

Tessa had tears dropping from her eyes. She held Timothy's hand softly and looked at the doctor. "Please...please save him."

The doctor looked at her and nodded. "I don't have to understand you to know what you're saying. I'll do everything I can to help him. I _swear_ it." He then turned to the glass doors that lead to the inside of the hospital. "Get a gurney out here pronto! We have a severely bleeding victim with gunshot wounds!" He then turned back to me. "You may want to get out of here. I doubt any trainers would actually be _able_ to capture you, but something tells me you'd like to avoid the trouble altogether. I know that you somehow always are able to keep an eye on things, so I'll send the Blaziken out to you when we're finished." He then looked at Tessa and smiled warmly. "I'm confident he'll be just fine. It will take some time for him to heal though, so he'll need you to look out for him, okay?" The strange wheeled bed-like device was brought out, and Timothy's limp body was placed upon it, the nurses pressing down with gauze upon his wounds in an effort to stop or slow the bleeding. The doctor turned to us one last time with a smile, and then rushed inside.

Once the medical crew had vanished into the large building, Tessa turned to me with a very frightened expression. "H-he was telling the truth, right? Timothy's going to be okay...right?" Before I could answer her, she spoke again. "Geanne...you have to go get her." Before I could speak on this, she interrupted me _again_. "I _know_ you know where she is, Lord Lugia." She then sighed sadly and turned towards the hospital doors. "Just please...do this one favor for me. I swear by Arceus I will _never _ask you of anything again...but please, go get her. She needs to be here in case something happens."

It was true. The Gardevoir known as Geanne had told me exactly where she would be in case of an emergency...but stressed to me that information was to be used _only_ in an emergency. Well, this seemed dire enough. "Very well, young Tessa. I will fetch her for you. If she is upset, I will let _you_ explain things to her. I will _not_ take the blame for this."

She waved a hand off and nodded. "Fine...just hurry."

I nodded and took flight, flying faster than I ever had before.

* * *

**Tessa's PoV**

I was a wreck.

I know the human doctor had promised me that Timothy would be alright, but without being able to follow him back there, I couldn't see what was happening...which meant I didn't know if he had been lying to me or not.

Put simply, I was a nervous bundle of stress.

I was sitting in the waiting room of the ER, along with a number of humans. They were all staring at me of course, but then again I was not surprised. Besides the fact that a lone Pokemon was sitting as if she belonged there, I was also much different in form to others of my species.

This of course led to another problem.

I was quite aware that all the male humans in the room couldn't take their eyes off of me. It would have been flattering normally, but instead it just made me uncomfortable, as I was not in the mood with my fear for Timothy on my mind. It was times like this that I sorely wish that I could speak the human's language. Since I couldn't, I instead just huffed and turned away, looking towards the large double doors that the staff had taken Tim through.

Hours passed, and still no word came. Unlike a Pokemon center, there were no Pokemon for me to speak to while I waited...so instead I had to be alone and scared. It had been over a month since my turnaround in personality, but fear was something I was well accustomed to in my life. That didn't make it any easier though. As more and more time passed, I began to get very anxious; yet again, the fact that I was alone with no one to talk to didn't help.

It was then that the door opened to reveal the only one in the world besides Tim that I wanted at my side right now.

Geanne.

* * *

**Geanne's PoV**

Just an hour ago I was having dinner with my family...and now I was back in the human world, because of Timothy no less.

I cursed loudly when Lord Lugia told me what had happened. Not because of Timothy, but because of me. I had left him and our friends to return to my original home far away from human society. I originally did so because I thought they needed me.

Oh, how wrong I was.

In the best way possible, my blood-family was fine without me. They would always love me and miss me and I would always be their daughter, but they had not need of me to help them. I still don't know if it was by some misguided search for self-worth or if I was _afraid_ – afraid of what, I don't know – but I decided to stay much longer than was necessary. My sister even tried to convince me a few times to leave...but I denied that anything was wrong and kept working on improving the city with my family.

Over a month had passed and I had, as expected, not heard anything from Timothy or any of the others. Recently I had begun to _hope_ that they would find me, even though I knew it was impossible. After all, only Lord Lugia knew where I was, and he swore to Arceus not to tell anyone. Still...my impossible hope still flourished in my mind, but was unrealized until today.

On the way to the hospital, I constantly berated myself for leaving them all. It hadn't been fair, to Tim or to any of the others...least of all Tessa. The Blaziken and I had grown very close, almost like sisters, and it honestly hurt to see her face all those days ago when I left. Still...today I would be able to see her again.

I just hope she didn't hate me.

As I walked hurriedly into the waiting room of the ER section, I instantly recognized Tessa, as she was the only Blaziken there. What I found odd was that she looked very different. Her body was more...shapely than it had been when I left, and for some odd reason I was jealous of her. Yeah...I also find it a little dysfunctional that the first emotion I felt after meeting a friend was jealousy. Still, the most shocking thing I noticed about her were her eyes. Those orbs of blue that were her irises were shrouded in fear, longing, and pain.

"Geanne." she breathed out. I sat down next to her and she immediately reached for my hand, which I gave her without hesitation. She squeezed softly and flashed a small smile, obviously happy at my return. She then looked towards the doors down the hall, the ones I assumed Tim had disappeared to. "Geanne...it was so scary. It's _still_ scary. I mean, what if we lose him? What then? I-I don't know if-"

I cut her off with a squeeze of her hand in mine and a smile. "I can feel Tim from here, and I can tell you that he is very strong. He'll be fine." I said that as a half-truth, and to convince myself. In truth, I _didn't_ know for sure what was going to happen, but Lord Lugia had told me Tim would be alright...so I trusted his word. I then sighed and drove my fist into my knee in anger. "I shouldn't have left...it was so foolish of me. This never would have happened if I'd been here."

I felt Tessa's hand release mine and snake around my waist, pulling me close. "Geanne, it's not your fault. You may be psychic, but you can't stop bullets. Besides, Team Rocket was using some sort of weird weapon that took all captured Pokemon out of commission. Had you been there, you would have been helpless too, probably." Tessa then looked down in shame. "I...I killed the man, Geanne."

"What?" I gasped out in shock.

The Blaziken shifted uncomfortably and breathed deeply. "The man that shot Timothy...I killed him."

I was silenced by her confession. Thoughts began to run through my mind...horrible, panicked thoughts. What would happen to Timothy? What would happen to Tessa?

She then shook her head and sighed. "Lord Latios and Lady Latias have taken care of it...no one will know." She slumped a little more against me and let a few tears fall. "It doesn't let _me_ forget though." I felt her shudder a bit against me, so I pulled her into an even tighter embrace. "Am I a monster, Geanne?"

"No." I replied immediately. I then pulled her face to look at me and I stared into her crystal-blue eyes. "That man tried to kill Timothy...he would have done the same for any of us." I then let out my own sigh of grief as she rested her head on my shoulder. "Taking a life should never be easy...you _should_ feel like a monster. Only a true monster feels no remorse, however." I then brushed my hand through the long feathers of her head and back. "You are _not_ to be called the one in the wrong here. If you hadn't done what you did, more than just that one man may have died that day. It could have been you...and all of the others. The kind of men that would use a deadly weapon with such impunity...they don't take prisoners that aren't of any use to them."

She didn't respond, but just nodded against my shoulder softly.

Please Tim...come back to us. We need you.


	8. Ch 8: Against Life and Death

**A/N: Hey there everyone! Frostbreaker here with another chapter for you all. Hope you enjoy and as always, please R&R.**

**To SneakyDevil – Not to sound like an arrogant prick, but I'm pretty confident that I can write a successful romance out of nearly any fiction. Romance is what I do...it's what I'm good at. After all if you're going to be good at something, it's good to strive to be the best.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or original story elements associated with the Pokemon series, manga, or****game****. All rights go to their respective owners.**

* * *

Chapter 8: Against Life and Death

**Tessa's PoV**

The hours blended together, and before we knew it, night was upon us. Geanne hadn't left my side the entire time and while I was still upset with her for being gone so long, I was beyond glad that she was beside me. The comfort she provided was compiled by the fact that Tim's heart stopped four times in surgery...but against all medical explanation, it started again by itself all four times. Though I could not reply to him, the doctor thought it prudent to let me know he'd never seen such a strong will to live in a human. Even with all the stress of the situation, I couldn't help but smile at this. To know that – albeit unconsciously – Tim was fighting against death itself tooth and nail...it was uplifting.

Both Michael and Trisha had joined us in their human forms, along with not only Mr. Ketchum, but Anthony as well. Both of the trainers' Pokemon had told us that Lord Lugia himself had fetched them. Soon, Amory, Tiaka, and the three Beasts of Johoto also joined us in the waiting room. With so many Sacred Ones all in one place, I was worried for their safety...as well as ours. Trisha herself passed on the word to the humans that Team Rocket had done this to Timothy, and I was surprised to find that instead of attempting to capture or harass the Sacred Ones, the sympathetic humans instead took it upon themselves to form a barricade outside the hospital, keeping a sharp lookout for any suspicious characters.

Perhaps there were more decent humans in the world than I thought.

After what seemed like forever, the doctor finally entered the waiting room a second time. He was at first surprised at the presence of so many Legendary Pokemon, but simply shrugged and strode over to me with a smile.

"He's stable. Given some time to heal, he'll be just fine." the doctor said in a soothing voice.

I was unable to control myself at this point, so I threw myself at the doctor with tears in my eyes, thanking him relentlessly.

Even without understanding me per se, he understood what I was doing and patted my back softly. "You're welcome." After releasing me, he gestured down the hall. "He's asleep at the moment, but I can allow the two of you to come see him." He then however, gazed at the large amount of Pokemon gathered. "For their safety and ours, however, I'll need to ask that they leave. Correct me if I'm wrong, but not all of these Pokemon are captured, are they?" I shook my head. The doctor nodded. "Well then regrettably, they need to leave in order to be safe, as they're obviously a prime target for Team Rocket. Tell them that he's okay and that he will likely wake up tomorrow. If they wish, I have a brother from the Pokemon League security force who can provide safe escort for them if they'd like to visit him tomorrow." I nodded again. He smiled and nodded back. "Very well. I'll wait for you by the sign-in desk."

I made my way over to the group of Pokemon and sighed happily. "He's going to be fine, everyone. The doctor even says that he can offer security for the Sacred Ones that would like to see him tomorrow. For now, however, he's asked that we clear out. It's probably not too safe for all of us to be in one place."

Amory nodded with a serious look. "I agree. We should be going. We'll be back tomorrow to see Timothy then."

The other Sacred Ones nodded in agreement before they began to disperse, eventually leaving only myself and Geanne in the waiting room again. I turned to the Gardevoir with a sigh and took her hand in my own. "Come on, Geanne."

We walked over to the doctor and he nodded. "Okay, follow me."

* * *

As we walked through the halls of the hospital, I couldn't help but think of how different it looked to a Pokemon center. Rooms were often filled with the patient's family or friends. Some were laughing and talking, while others were crying. It was a very different affair than it was for most Pokemon. Humans seemed to get injured and ill much easier than Pokemon did it seemed, which made sense as to why human hospitals were so much larger and more advanced.

We arrived a few minutes later to a room that was unremarkable to the others, save for a red flag-like protrusion above the door. As we approached it, the doctor reached up and flapped the flag down, instead changing it to green. He pressed the door open to a dimly lit room with a single bed in it, and my breath hitched in my throat.

Sitting up against pillows and an inclined bed was a smiling Timothy. "Hey girls, doctor."

"How?" the doctor squeaked out. "I was at your bedside taking your baseline just fifteen minutes ago!"

Timothy shrugged and smiled. "Guess not even bullets can keep me down for long." He then ran his hand over the bandages of his chest. "These have yet to heal fully, however. I'm not going anywhere anytime soon."

The doctor quickly shook his head and stomped his food. "No, this doesn't make any sense. You almost died four times when we were operating. At one point, you were a complete flatline and we couldn't jumpstart your heart with the paddles. Then just as we were about to pronounce you, your heart started beating on its own again."

"Well I'm sorry, but I don't know what to tell you, doctor. I guess I'm just special." Tim remarked with a grin.

The doctor tapped his chin for a moment before smiling. "Would you mind if we used your medical readings for research?"

Timothy shrugged again. "I don't mind. Go nuts." He then looked at Geanne and I before looking back to the doctor. "I'd like to speak to the two of them in private now, if you don't mind." The doctor nodded with a soft smile before leaving and closing the door behind him. Tim held out his hand to me with a smile, which I took without hesitation and sat on the bed. He then brushed my cheek softly and frowned. "You've been crying." I nodded. "I'm sorry, Tess...truly I am. If I could have avoided putting you through this, I would have." He then turned his gaze to the Gardevoir and patted the empty side of the bed, opposite me.

Geanne took her place by his side, looking down in shame. "Timothy, I'm so sorry. I never sh-"

He cut her off as he pulled her down into a soft kiss, which she relaxed and moaned into. After a minute or so, they broke apart and he smiled. "I was never mad at you, Geanne. You don't need to apologize. If it was something so important that you felt you had to leave, then I'm not angry with you. I trust your judgment." He stroked her cheek lovingly and sighed happily. "All you need to know is that I'm glad you're here now and I still love you."

"Y-you do?" she breathed out tentatively.

He nodded and pulled her down to embrace her in a hug. "Always, Geanne." He then pulled me down as well, and I welcomed the affection whole-heartedly. "I love both of you...and I can't think of anything that would ever change that." He then cleared his throat and sat up a little taller. "Um Geanne, there's something we need to talk about."

**Timothy's PoV**

The shiny Gardevoir looked up at me curiously. "Yes?"

I pointed to Tessa and inclined my head. "You might have noticed Tessa's change of physical form." She nodded, so I continued. "Well...that has something to do with me being an Awakened. Being around me is going to make you change the same way. That is of course unless you're leaving again, in which case you don't need to worry about it."

"I'm not going anywhere again, Tim. That was a mistake on my part, and I'm sorry." she responded curtly.

I sighed and shook my head. "I already said you're not at fault, Geanne. It was something you felt you had to do, and I don't begrudge you because of that. None of you are under any obligation to stay with me for any reason."

"But it's different for us." she retorted.

I raised my eyebrow at her. "Why's that?"

She sighed buried her face in my chest. "Because you love me."

I shook my head. "Sometimes to do what's right, we have to let the things and people we love go. Just because I have special feelings for the two of you doesn't mean you're obligated to stay. I would _like _you to, but I'm never going to _force_ you to do anything. I made that clear to all of you a long time ago."

She sighed and looked up to me with her shining gold eyes. "I don't know if Pokemon are meant to have that much freedom, Tim. When it comes right down to it, I'm still bound to you as your partner."

I thought about it for a moment before nodding. "You're right...you are." I then reached into my bag on a small table beside the bed and fished her Pokeball out. I held it in the palm of my hand and stared at in intently. "With a simple flex of my muscles though, this ball would be crushed and you would be completely free. Free to go and do whatever you wish...be with whoever you wish." I then looked back down at Geanne. "Is that what you want?"

She promptly shook her head and placed her palm over the ball and my hand. "No...never. I'd never want to risk another trainer taking me away from you."

I smiled and pulled the two Pokemon closer to me. "I love the both of you. I hope we never have to separate, ever." I then swallowed hard and closed my eyes. "However, the world might not allow that. Things are changing very quickly it seems, and we might come across people that are intent on breaking us apart for one reason or another. If that ever happens, just stick together and protect each other. If you can be patient...I will find both of you."

Tessa looked up at me with fear in her eyes. "Tim? W-what are you talking about?"

"Just promise me...please." I responded solemnly.

It took a moment before Geanne reached over me and held Tessa's hand, then nodded to me. "We promise, Tim."

I nodded and held the two females tight against me before looking at the clock. "You two should get going. Visitor hours are over and I don't want the hospital staff to start fussing. Besides, the two of you need to hold down the fort and keep everyone calm at home."

Reluctantly the two of them nodded and stood up, standing side-by-side with sad smiles on their faces. Tessa held my hand tightly for a moment before releasing it. Geanne then started to glow with a faint aura before she and Tessa disappeared in a flash.

After they left I sighed and closed my eyes. "Did you enjoy the show?"

Two figures materialized beside me to reveal Michael and Trisha in their Pokemon forms. The Latias nearly bowled me over with a hug while her brother just smiled softly and placed a clawed hand on my shoulder. "Good to see you're awake so quickly, Timothy." He then motioned to his sister. "Apologies, but she insisted on seeing you."

As I closed my eyes again and ran my fingers through Trisha's fur, I shook my head with a smile. "It's no trouble at all, Michael. I was worried about the two of you anyway, so I'm glad you came to see me." After a few minutes of embracing and petting the purring Latias, I looked over at the Latios. "What was done with the Rockets?"

"We took care of it...all of us." he responded. "No one will ever know what happened."

I nodded and looked down at the dozing Latias in my arms. "We need to be more careful. From now on when we meet, it has to be inside."

Michael shrugged. "I think that would be alright, and I'm sure Trish won't mind." He then looked a little ashamed. "Are you sure you'd still want us around after that? Won't we draw more attention to you?"

I shook my head. "Not anymore attention than is already on me. I'm a human that lives with Pokemon out of their Pokeballs, I can talk to them, and Lance the Dragonmaster regularly contacts and/or visits me. I'm already pretty high-visibility in the world. Besides, I know how lonely the two of you must get at home." I tilted Trisha's face up to look at me and kissed her on the nose. "It's time for you to go, Trish. You can come back tomorrow though, okay?" She nodded and nuzzled me one last time before floating away towards her brother. The window opened and closed, and I could just barely see two translucent shapes flying away into the night sky.

As soon as they left, I lay my head back on the pillow and closed my eyes, slipping off into a drug-induced slumber.

* * *

**Geanne's PoV**

Lord Lugia was thankfully kind enough to give us a lift back to the house, and I made sure to thank him profusely for his help. He of course, being the generous Sacred One he was, assured me it was no trouble. To think that I was now on such a level with a Sacred One was something I never imagined to happen in my wildest dreams.

As we bid him goodbye and stepped into the house, the two of us were bombarded by questions by everyone. Tessa answered most of them, seeing as how I knew only the basics of what had happened. I noticed that the home was much more populated now, namely with some of the Pokemon that were originally in the storage box. Tessa explained to me that Tim had cleaned out his box in the storage system, and after a great number left, these were all that remained. To know that out of over a hundred, only a little over twenty decided to stay...it was heartbreaking. Still, I knew why so many had left. Timothy – being the amazing person he was – gave all of them free choice, and they made their choices. Most of those that stayed I recognized...but two I did not. A Riolu and Absol were sitting placidly in the family room, simply watching what transpired.

As I made my way over to them, the Absol took a defensive place in front of the Riolu, but I just smiled warmly. "My name's Geanne, and I promise that I'm not going to hurt either of you. I'm a good friend of Timothy's."

The Riolu stepped out carefully and eyed me with awe. "You're really pretty."

Shocked by his bold statement, I blushed and giggled. "You're cute. What's your name?"

"I'm Dante." he responded with a grin, now stepping out from behind his "protector".

I nodded and looked to the Absol, and she smiled as well. "I'm Mizuki."

I smiled and stood. "Well it's a pleasure to meet both of you. I don't know about you, but I'm starving. Would the two of you like some dinner?" They both nodded, so I went about making dinner for the three of us.

* * *

**Tessa's PoV**

It was good to be home in a sense, but somehow it just didn't feel like as much as a home without Timothy there. Still, he had asked us to make sure everyone was taken care of and kept calm, so that's what I was going to do.

I advised all the Pokemon there that Timothy was going to be fine and that we could go see him in a day or two, but that for the moment we needed to continue life as normal. Brutus seemed to be okay...but Gunnar not so much. He blamed himself for what happened to Tim. When I tried to approach him, the Charizard advised me to just let him be...that he'd be okay eventually.

The day progressed as usual, and thankfully we didn't have any needy trainers to deal with. I trained with Brutus and the Sneasel twins, while Geanne made sure the new arrivals were taken care of. As the day wore on, I found myself more and more comfortable with Geanne being back. I hadn't realized just how bad I'd missed her, but it was clear that it was much more than I thought possible. After all, she was the first friend I'd made...and with her back, it felt like a piece of me had reawakened as well.

The day ended with Trisha – who'd decided to join us for dinner with her brother – Geanne, Neeka, and me all gathered around a table for dinner together...a "girl's night" sort of thing between friends. It was still a new thing for me to be able to call a Sacred One a friend, but it was a good new experience.

Deciding to be a little adventurous, I brought out a few bottles of wine from the cellar for us to drink and relax with. I knew Geanne would jump into it immediately, but as expected, Neeka and Trisha were both a bit apprehensive.

"Tessa, I'm not sure we're supposed to be doing this. Won't Tim be upset?" Neeka asked.

I grinned and shook my head as I poured both myself and her a glass each. "Not at all. It's only a problem if we cause a mess or drink so much we get sick...neither of which we're going to be doing. This is just a little something to loosen everyone up so we can enjoy ourselves." I then looked at Geanne. "Speaking of...Geanne, can you turn on some music for us?"

She nodded and used Timothy's stereo to put on some music from the disc changer. It was something I'd become accustomed to recently, as human music could be very passionate and powerful, if you knew where to look.

I looked over to see Trisha in her human form, sipping from her glass of wine. She was subtly bobbing her head to the music with a look of deep thought. "You know, human music isn't half bad. It's nothing compared to the chimes of the Soul Dew, but it's definitely something I could get used to."

I nodded with a very girly giggle. "Well we all know the Soul Dew is different. Few things could compare to that, I'm sure." I took another drink and stood up, extending my hand to the Sacred One as a slower song came on, one known as _The Fragrance of Dark Coffee_. "Might I have this dance?"

The human-form Pokemon blushed a bit, but then shrugged as she downed the last of her glass of wine. "You may."

As the other two watched, I pulled Trisha towards the empty space between the living room and dining room, which was large enough for at least five people to dance in. Because she was nearly a foot shorter than I was, I opted to lead. As she placed her hand in mine and the other up over my back, I pulled her close and placed my free hand on the small of her back. She blushed at this contact, but allowed it and we began to slowly step around in a circle on the floor, softly swaying to the captivating rhythm. A storm had picked up outside, and so the beautiful tones were complimented by the soft tapping of rain on the roof and windowpanes.

What started out as a simple fun dance between friends quickly evolved into something else when Trisha rested her head against my chest and sighed happily. At that moment, something strange happened to me. Even in my rational mind, I thought that at the very least, I might bristle at the contact. Instead, I released her hand and placed the other with the one already on her back, pulling her closer against me. Warmth was spreading throughout my body, a very familiar warmth. It was one I experienced whenever I was with Timothy. This was compiled with the alcohol that was already in my system, and I couldn't stop myself from resting my head atop hers as we slowly danced with each other.

Out of the corner of my eyes, I could see Geanne staring with a dumbstruck expression. I grinned and released my partner for a moment to make my way over to her. "Come on Geanne, dance with us. You too, Neeka."

The two did the same that Trisha had done and downed their glasses before standing and dancing with each other. As I expected, they quickly found themselves entranced by the music, so I placed it on repeat. Even though they originally were watching me and Trisha with surprise, they both found themselves doing the same...dancing as close as lovers would. I continued my dance with the Sacred One and took to again resting my beak on top of her head as the relaxing atmosphere washed over us again.

We danced for what felt like hours, and afterward we all prepared for the end of the night.

* * *

As the other two were cleaning up, I walked Trisha out with her brother to bid them goodnight. Trisha looked up at me and smiled warmly before hugging me tight. "We never were able to thank you for fighting for us, Tessa. So thank you."

I embraced the dragon Pokemon firmly and smiled. "And I would have done it all again, as would Timothy. Not only are you our charges, but you are also friends...and friends look out for each other."

Trisha hugged me a bit tighter for a moment before releasing and smiling at me. "I expect to see you there tomorrow when I visit Timothy with Michael."

I grinned and nodded. "I wouldn't miss it for the world." I then looked at her brother. "You better take care of her so I can see her again."

The Latios chuckled and nodded. "I wouldn't want to incur your wrath. You may not be an ice Pokemon, but I've seen the damage you can do, and I do not want any of that headed my way. Don't worry, we'll be safe and we'll see you all tomorrow."

I waved goodbye to the two Sacred Ones as they phased from sight and flew away, the soft rain causing them to completely disappear in the night sky.

I reentered the house to find that all had already turned in for the night, save for myself, so I turned off all of the lights and locked all the doors, save for the door to the bunkhouse, which was always left unlocked. After doing one last check to make sure the Sneasel twins were tucked in, I headed upstairs to the master bedroom.

* * *

I arrived, pleased to see that Geanne was back in her rightful place. I refer to it as "rightful" simply because she had always belonged there, beside Timothy and I. Without Timothy, I had been afraid I would have to sleep alone...but with Geanne returned home, I could relinquish that fear. It was odd that in such a quick period of time, we had become almost like sisters, where the younger would cling to the elder for security and comfort. Even though I was much larger in stature, _I _often played the part of the one seeking comfort and security.

Even now, Geanne didn't seem to mind as I slid into the bed beside her and scooted until I was right up against her. The embrace Pokemon stroked my cranial feathers softly as we lay next to each other, and I almost let out a very undignified purr at the touch.

"Tessa..." whispered the powerful psychic. I looked over to meet her eyes and found unwept tears in them. "Tessa, I'm so sorry I left you. It was a horrible thing to do and I should never have abandoned any of you like that." She then took my hand in hers with a nervous expression. "Can you ever forgive me?"

I released her hand and turned onto my side. "Geanne, I was mad at you for a very long time...even more so because Timothy blamed you leaving on himself." Her face started to tense up as she prepared to cry, but my hand on her cheek stopped her. "But...you came back. I don't know why you felt you had to leave and frankly I don't care. All I know is that if Timothy forgives you, that's good enough for me." I felt my own tears threatening to break free, so I turned away from her and stared at the ceiling. "I missed you, Geanne...more than I've ever missed anyone or anything before. You were my first friend...and you _are_ my best friend." I looked back at her once I had myself under control. "Are you planning on leaving again?"

She promptly shook her head, her violet hair tousling softly. "Never again. My place is here, with all of you."

I smiled at this declaration and leaned my head against hers as my eyelids began to grow heavy. "You need to make sure you tell Timothy that. He worried about you...we all did." I then yawned loudly and sighed. "Well, we will see him tomorrow then." I closed my eyes with a smile. "Goodnight Geanne."

"Sleep well, Tessa." my bedmate responded before darkness overtook me.


	9. Ch 9: Healing, Present and Past

**A/N: Hey there everyone! Frostbreaker here with another update for all my readers. As always, please R&R and let me know what you thought.**

**To Shadow Cloud 5283 – Well I'm glad you're enjoying it, sir. Here's the next update. Hope you like!**

**Disclaimer: ****I do not own any of the characters or original story elements associated with the Pokemon series, manga, or game. All rights go to their respective owners.**

* * *

Chapter 9: Healing, Present and Past

Three weeks of hell to endure, and nothing but exercise and meditation to pass the time.

I was glad that my friends visited me nearly every day, but that didn't make the time pass any faster. Even though my internal organs seemed to be very robust, it appeared my skin was still very human. This meant I needed antibiotics to counter infection, multiple minor surgeries to make sure all the bullet fragments had been removed (the bastard used hollowpoints), and a hell of a lot of physical therapy. My aura had protected my body, so while the damage wasn't deep, it was still dangerous. Infection was a constant worry for all the staff involved, but thankfully after the last surgery, the danger was out of the way for the most part. This allowed me to get up and exercise more, keeping my body in shape and making sure my muscles wouldn't atrophy too much.

The hospital's food _did_ suck though.

Still, seeing everyone helped the process along. As he promised, Dr. Thresher made a call to provide support to the Sacred Ones so that they could safely come see me. It was now not uncommon to see not only uniformed officers patrolling the building, but also a plethora of Pokemon researchers, and even reporters.

Speaking of the reporters, I had finally agreed to an interview after Amory brought word that the Sacred Council approved it. I had hoped that by just giving the reporters what they wanted, they'd leave me the hell alone. So today, I would be having a press conference of sorts with national media.

* * *

"Do I even want to know how you know how to tie a windsor knot?" I asked the Riolu in front of me.

He shrugged. "I like to learn about humans. You all are really interesting." The knot was pulled snug and he folded my collar down over my neck. He looked at me approvingly and nodded. "It's not perfect, but it'll do. Just don't mess with it and you'll be fine."

I grabbed the blue blazer off of the chair behind me and stood up with my arms outstretched to the Riolu, Gardevoir, and Blaziken in front of me. "So, how do I look?"

As I did a quick turn, I found Tessa smiling at me. "You look pretty handsome, actually."

"I agree." Geanne said with a grin. "Very dapper."

I chuckled. "Well if that's your response, I might just start wearing suits all the time. I have to admit," I started, looking at myself in the small hospital mirror. "I do make a suit look good." Just then, a girl with long, spiky reddish-brown hair and soft hazel eyes entered with a smile on her face. "Hey Trish, what's up?"

A man about my age walked in behind her, his short hair a shiny black with a single stripe of white in it. "It's time, Timothy. They're ready for you."

I nodded and gestured to myself. "What do you think, Michael? Do I clean up good or what?"

The human-form Latios rolled his eyes. "Don't get too confident or you'll get a fat head. Oops, too late."

This earned him a scowl from me, but then I grinned. "Well, at least I don't have a streak of old-man's hair, grandpa."

Michael looked like he was about to say something before bobbing his head and shrugging. "I guess I kinda walked into that one. Anyway, are you ready?"

I nodded. "I am. Let's do this."

* * *

The six of us walked out to the city after signing me out of the hospital and arrived at an auditorium of sorts, which was teeming with people and Pokemon alike. Security was everywhere, which I was thankful for, and I saw quite a few faces I recognized. Both Professor Oak and Professor Elm made an appearance, as well as who could only be Lugia in human form. I could tell it was him simply by the way he acted, so I walked over to him to say hello.

As I sauntered over with my company, the man looked up at me with a smile. "Why hello there, Timothy. I take it you know who I am?"

I nodded. "People who don't know you will be fooled, but I know you well enough to be able to tell who you are. How is the family?"

"Very good Timothy, thank you for asking. My son asks about 'daddy's friend' all the time now. He's very keen on meeting you at some point." Vincent responded.

I smiled with a single nod. "You set a time and a place, and I'd be glad to meet with him." I then looked over at the auditorium. "Anyway, it looks like things are about to get started. We better get in there."

My company and I split off, leaving just my core group and I on stage, while the rest of the Pokemon that had come were sitting off to the side with a few other trainers' Pokemon. Much like the humans, the Pokemon were chatting amongst themselves as my friends and I walked to the long table that faced the crowd. Already gathered were Brutus, Gunnar, Orpheus, Jade, and Rina. Neeka was also there, as were the Sneasel Twins. I sat down with all of them surrounding me and pulled the microphone towards me.

"Well, thank you all for coming today. My name's Timothy Maxwell. I'm sure all of you here have heard a great deal about me already, but it's clear you have questions. Let's start the conference." I stated with a smile. This of course caused all of the different people to stand up shouting, so I pointed to a dark-skinned woman with black hair in the front row. "Yes, you ma'am."

All the others sat down quietly and she smiled back at me. "Kianna Frost, Northport News. Is it true that you can speak to Pokemon?"

I chuckled and nodded. "Technically, we can all speak to Pokemon. If you're asking if I can hold a conversation with them, then yes...I can."

A pale-skinned blonde woman raised her hand next, so I pointed at her. The woman stood. "Gracie Korr, Channel Nine Kanto. We've all heard about how you arrived in this city, as well as the Pokemon that brought you here. Is it true that you're acquainted with the Legendaries of Johoto?"

I decided that for both their safety and mine, I'd keep the answer half-true. "I've met them, yes."

A man with blonde hair and tanned skin then quickly stood before anyone else, so I pointed to him. He nodded with a smile. "Gerry Thompson, Celadon Inquirer. There have been quite a few rumors going around, as I'm sure you can assume. For example, some claim that you choose to leave your Pokemon outside of their Pokeballs because they threatened you if you did otherwise."

"Untrue." I responded quickly. "It's for quite a different reason, actually. You see, I consider Pokemon every bit people as human beings. That could be in part because I can actually understand them, but also because I've seen firsthand how some 'trainers' go beyond simply training, and have enslaved their Pokemon to do their bidding." I rubbed Tessa on the shoulder affectionately. "Tessa here, for example, was harshly abused by her past trainer, so I took her away from him." I then patted the thick hide of Gunnar. "And Gunnar used to be under the command of Team Aqua. You see I never consider them _mine_, because just as it would be wrong for one human to own another, I personally believe the same should be true for Pokemon." I waved a hand behind me, motioning to the Pokemon gathered around me. "These aren't _my_ Pokemon. They're friends and family. They're sisters, brothers, mothers, fathers, and children."

"Do you mean to say that you dislike most trainers?" the same reporter asked.

I nodded. "I can honestly say yes. If you want a perfect representation of what I think a _good_ trainer is, take a look at Ash Ketchum. He's shown that a trainer can love and care for his Pokemon while still being powerful. The problem is that _most_ trainers I've met aren't like him...not even close. You have to keep in mind that as a whole, Pokemon don't get a choice in what trainer they end up with. In an ideal world, a trainer-Pokemon partnership should be agreed upon by both, and the Pokemon should be allowed to leave if their trainer goes against their own morals. I am however, a realist. I know for a fact that isn't ever going to happen, but that doesn't mean we can't strive to at least make undesirable trainers like that a rarity. Okay then, who's next?" I noticed a younger man near the rear with vivid red hair and a scar above his eye. "You sir, in the back with the red hair."

He stood and bowed his head slightly in thanks. "My name's Jonathan Trebble and I'm a student at Goldenrod University."

I nodded and smiled. "GU, huh? Nice school. What's your question, sir?"

"Well the students and I have also heard some rumors, and we're curious as to whether they're true or not. They're a little personal though." he responded nervously.

I shrugged. "I'm not really sensitive about my personal life, really. What's the question?"

"Well," he started with a nervous inflection in his voice, "we've heard that you're...umm...romantically involved with a Pokemon."

I chuckled and nodded. "Well I'll put the rumor to rest right now." I quickly leaned over and kissed both Tessa and Geanne on their cheeks. I then focused my gaze back on the crowd as hushed murmurs took the crowd by storm. "I hope that answers your question."

"So wait a minute, you're involved with _two _Pokemon?" the male student asked.

I nodded. "Pokemon society is different than human society; it states that the strongest and most intelligent male basically gets his pick. I'll admit it was a little weird at first, but I got used to it." I sighed and looked out over the crowd again. "I also know that there are a lot of areas that aren't okay with it. There's not a law against it, but there are quite a few areas that are averse to the idea. Let's just say I make sure to avoid those areas. The problem with areas like that is that they see Pokemon as just Pokemon, but if you get to know Pokemon for who and what they really are, you'll find that we're not as different as humans think." As I watched, a woman got up from the audience to leave, causing a large group to watch her as she walked out. I motioned to the door she exited. "Right there is a perfect example of someone that not only doesn't understand Pokemon, but is unwilling to even entertain the fact that we might be less different than most people think." I sighed and shook my head. "Well I'm getting a little tired and I'm wanting to go home, so I think we have time for one more question." I noticed an older man in front that had been pretty quiet the entire time, but it was clear he wanted to ask something. "You there, near the front."

He had auburn hair with streaks of gray and glasses, and I noticed a prosthetic arm as he stood. "My name is Tobias Gresham, and I speak for the disabled veterans of Hoenn."

I stood and bowed my head in respect, with my fist over my heart in a salute. "It's an honor, sir."

The aged veteran smiled. "The honor's mine, son. First, I wanted to say thank you for what you're doing. You're not the first man to have the ideals that you do, but you're definitely the first to project them to the world and defend them. I firmly believe that with more people like you, the wars we've fought in might never have had to happen."

I sat down and nodded again respectfully. "Well thank you, sir."

Mr. Gresham smiled again. "My question pertains to your future: what do you plan to do with your skills and abilities? You've obviously done good already, as your career choice is making news across Johoto...but what is it all heading towards? What's your goal?"

"Well Mr. Gresham," I started as I stood again, "I plan to be the voice and burning fist of the Pokemon whose cries go unheard...their pain and sadness, unheeded. I fight for the ones who can't fight...and if I lose, at least I tried."

"And how do you plan to defend your charges, Mister Maxwell?" the veteran asked curiously.

I smiled as I winked at Greanne. "With words and if need be, fists."

This caused a woman behind the soldier to stand and talk out of turn. "You intend to fight against Pokemon if you have to?"

"If I have to, yes. It's not something I ever want to come across, but if it takes me beating some sense into a misguided Pokemon, I'll do it." I responded with strength in my voice.

The woman seemed unconvinced. "And how exactly do you plan to do that?"

I smirked as I walked away from my chair into the open area in front of the table. "I take it you heard about that human that fought against a Blaziken in Blackthorn, right?" The woman and a few others nodded. "Well, that was me," I then pointed at Tess, "and her. Now I know you're probably wondering what kind of crazy person would even think about fighting a Blaziken, right?" This ushered in another chorus of nods. I whipped my jacket off and unbuttoned my sleeves before rolling them up to my elbows. "Well, this is how." I then activated my aura, letting the black and violet fire crawl over my hands and forearms. This caused gasps and a few shouts from everyone in the audience, Pokemon included. While the humans all mumbled in shock, they immediately shut up when they all noticed the Pokemon to the side all bowing in reverence in some way. I turned my attention to the crowd. "No doubt you're all now wondering why I'm getting bowed to, well I'll explain. This power you see flowing over me is known as Aura...the same kind of power the Pokemon Lucario uses. What most humans _don't _know is that a Pokemon's Aura is always one solid color...unless an Aura Bond has been performed. An Aura Bond is when two beings able to produce and manipulate spirit auras transfer a little of their power to each other. It is a sign of utmost trust and respect between Pokemon, and it's also a sign that whoever has it is trusted by the Legendaries of our world." I dissipated my aura and let out a breath as I did so. "Speaking of Legendaries, they are a very important force in our world. They watch over and protect it, so I implore trainers to try and befriend one instead of capturing it. They have a job to do that keeps the world moving, and to keep them from doing their job will cause disaster. I'm sure you all remember what happened during the Orange Isles incident...well that's just a taste of what could happen. Just like any Pokemon, they deserve our respect." I then turned to my friends and then back to the crowd. "Well that's just about all the time I've got for today. I'm tired and I'm going home. For any of you trainers that need my services, you all know where to find me. Thanks and have a good day."

It took about another twenty minutes, but I finally got away from the plethora of reporters and curious trainers that were asking questions, and I finally made my way outside. I then sighed. "Now how am I going to get all of you home?"

Geanne motioned to the Pokeballs in the belt at my waist, as well as my pack. "There's more than six of us, so any of us that you place in Pokeballs are going to be warped to your box until you only have six Pokemon left."

"Okay," I said in annoyance of the concept, "I need five volunteers then." Neeka, Rina, Orpheus, Mizuki, and Donahue stepped forward, so I quickly returned them to their Pokeballs and watched as each one disappeared in a small flash of light. I then turned to the rest and did the same, save for Brutus, and clipped their Pokeballs to my belt. It was then that I noticed Michael, Trisha, and Vincent walking over to me, still in their human forms.

The Latias hugged me tightly with a smile. "That was very impressive, Timothy. I'm proud of you."

I chuckled. "Thanks mom." This earned a glare from her, but then she grinned back. I looked at the three and sighed. "Well it's been a long day, so I'm going to head on home. The three of you are welcome to join me for a welcome-home dinner tonight if you want."

Vincent let out a sight of his own. "I am sure that Michael and Trisha are able, but I have business to attend to. It appears the three elemental avians of Kanto are riling up again."

I shrugged. "It happens. Thanks for being here, Vincent. I really appreciate it...and thanks for saving me."

Even in his tiny human form, he still had the presence of a gentle giant. "You're welcome, young Timothy. Take care of your friends. I will contact you before the week is out."

With that he phased into camouflage, and I saw as his body grew to its normal shape before he flew away. I then turned to the two that were left and shrugged. "Hungry?"

* * *

We arrived home about an hour and a half later, and I could tell that Brutus was a little tired. I didn't blame him, because he'd been up for almost three days straight watching out for me. I told him he didn't have to...but well, he's Brutus.

As I hopped off the fire Pokemon's back, I patted him on his side. "Thanks Brutus. Go get some rest while I go to the Pokemon Center and get the others." He nodded and walked away as I released the other five from their Pokeballs. "Geanne, Tess, I want you two to come with me. The rest of you wait here while I get the others." They all murmured agreements and we split off.

The walk into town was calm, as was most of the walk back...but it seems trouble was always just around the corner.

"Stop right there, little boy." shouted a high-pitched voice from behind me.

I rolled my eyes and turned around. "Look man, I just got out of the hospit-" I stopped when I didn't see anyone there, then looked down to see, "A midget? Seriously? Team Rocket sent a little person to come after me?"

This caused the pint-sized Rocket to fume as his face turned red. "Stop it! I demand you hand over those Pokeballs right now before things get ugly."

I chuckled. "I don't know. If you battle me, you might come up a bit _short_." This caused both Geanne and Tessa to giggle.

The man stomped his foot in anger. "Stop laughing!"

I rolled my eyes and sighed. "Fine, no more laughing. In all seriousness though, I don't have time for this. If you don't leave me alone, you're going to end up in the hospital. The last time you assholes came after my friends, I got shot. I'm not going to play around with you like I did them."

The man grinned and reached into his shirt. For all I knew it could be a note he was pulling out, or his underwear. No matter what it was, I didn't care, so I quickly activated Aura and punched him square in the face. I felt his nose break against my fist and when I dissipated Aura, he fell back a few feet, unconscious.

I then sighed and called, "Help, police!" and waited for said officer to respond. Not a minute later did a man in a police officer's uniform run over. He stopped dead in his tracks upon seeing the scene and a very confused expression came upon his face.

"Umm...can I help you?" he asked skeptically.

I nodded and pointed at the downed Rocket. "Yeah, that's a Team Rocket member that tried to rob me. I was able to fight him off by myself, but now he needs a jail cell to sleep in."

It was clear the officer had heard about Team Rocket and may have even had something about them because he shrugged his shoulders and said, "Good enough for me." He then hauled the small man up over his shoulder before looking to me. "Name, address, and phone number please."

"Timothy Maxwell – Lot 47 in Cianwood, Johoto. Phone number is 584-2398." I responded

The officer finished jotting the info down on his notepad and then looked up and smiled. "Alright. Thanks a lot, Timothy. We'll call you tomorrow for a quick bout of questions, and then we can put this all behind us."

I nodded. "Awesome. Thanks officer. I'm going to head on home now." The officer nodded and started to haul his quarry back to the station, so I headed home.

* * *

"You should have let me hit him, Timothy." Tessa grumbled.

I chuckled as I rubbed the Blaziken's back. "I wanted to hurt him, not kill him." This caused her to look down in shame and I was now mentally kicking myself. I dropped my hand to her side and held her hand in my own. "Tess, I'm sorry."

Tessa shook her head with a heavy sigh and squeezed my hand. "It's okay, Tim. I'll be okay eventually, I promise. Let's just go home, eat, and go to sleep. It's been a long Arceus-damned month, so I want to relax and enjoy myself now."

I was a little surprised she cursed, but considering the circumstances, I let it go. Instead, I shook my head with a smile. "No...you go get cleaned up. I'm going to make a special dinner...just for the three of us. And then after, we're going to spend time with Michael and Trisha to relax the night away...and if you can be good, I'll let you have a few drinks with me."

The fire Pokemon smiled softly and nodded. "That sounds really nice, Tim." She then hopped up the stairs to the house and walked inside.

Geanne wrapped her arm around my waist and leaned against me. "She shouldn't have had to go through that, Tim. It's not fair."

I nodded. "I know...but you can't tell me you wouldn't have done the same thing."

"I wouldn't have stopped with just one." the Gardevoir responded.

I sighed and turned my head to the side, kissing Geanne's head through her hair. "You remember what I asked you to promise, right?" She nodded. "Good. If something happens to me, you need to look out for her."

"Why do you keep saying that, Tim? You act like you know something." Geanne responded with concern.

I just shook my head. "I keep having these dreams, Geanne. I just get the feeling something bad's going to happen."

As we walked towards the back to greet everyone, Geanne held my arm tightly. "Whatever happens, we'll get through it _together_. I already almost lost you twice...don't do that to me again."

I held her close as I kissed her head again. "I promise I'll be playing it safe from now on. I won't be taking any unnecessary chances, I swear."

* * *

**Tessa's PoV**

As I let the stinging water run over my body, I attempted to clear my mind as much as possible. For some reason, I had been seeing _that_ man in my dreams the past week or so. The guilt of taking a life – a _human_ life – was starting to catch up to me. I also felt bad about what I said to Tim, because the truth was I wasn't sure I would _ever _be the same after this. After the hell my last trainer put me through and almost losing Tim...I wasn't sure how bad things were going to get. I mean, when does it end? Can't we just be happy for once? Does the universe hate us or something? It just didn't seem fair for some reason.

Still, I made sure I trudged on because at least with Tim, Geanne, and the others, I had hope that somewhere over the mountain I seemed to be climbing, there was a brighter and happier life. I prayed to Arceus with all my being that I was right...because I couldn't live I a world where things just keep getting worse and worse.

I stepped out of the shower and dried myself before opening the bathroom door, only to be caught in a tight and loving hug from Geanne and Timothy. For some reason, I felt Geanne's emotions. I felt concern, and love...two things I never thought I'd actually _feel_ from another. The emotions overcame me, and I started to cry...not because of sadness, but happiness. Even in my short life, it was wonderful to know I had such loving and loyal friends...and a man that loved me, even with how damaged I was. I still didn't really know what he saw in me, but I didn't care. He loved me, and that's all that mattered to me.

The dinner that Timothy had promised me was wonderful, as I expected. While I had to force the bad images and memories to the back of my mind, I was able to do so _because_ of the love and care he put into making me feel better...and it worked. For tonight at least, I was going to be able to live like I did before that horrible day – as a happy and carefree Blaziken with a wonderful mate at my side.

After the remnants of dinner were cleaned up, we broke out a few different bottles of Tim's liquor stash just as the two Sacred Ones arrived.

"Tim!" squealed the Latias, nearly knocking him over in a hug.

**Timothy's PoV**

I turned to see the door open just in time to hear a squeal of, "Tim!" from a certain Latias. As always, she nearly tackled me to the ground in a hug, and I have to say that I'm warming up to her strong affection.

I chuckled and stroked the fur along her neck before kissing her cheek. "Hey Trish. It's great to have you here."

"I'm glad to be here, Tim." she responded as she nuzzled my cheek.

I released her and stood to greet her brother with a smile and quick embrace. I then looked at him. "So...did you ever get around to telling Misty?"

The Latias hung his head in shame a bit as he twiddled his claws. "W-well, I was going to, but..."

I patted him on the shoulder. "Well tonight's your chance. Get to Cerulean right now, you've got a date with her at the cafe on the south side of the city."

"What!?" he shouted.

I rolled my eyes. "Your sister's going to be spending time with me and her friends. You're a friend too, but if she gets to spend time with someone she likes, you should too." He started to speak, but I just shook my head. "Don't worry, it'll be fine."

"B-but how did you set this up so fast?" Michael asked, shocked.

I shrugged. "I just made a call to Ash. He made a call to Misty and bada-bing bada-boom, you have a date. Ash knows her pretty well and says if she really likes you as much as you say, she won't have a problem with it."

The Latias eyed me with concern. "Are you su-"

"Yes, I'm sure." I interrupted. "Just go and enjoy yourself. It's about time you spent time with someone you really care about. And before you retort, your sister doesn't count." I then started to push him towards the door. "Your sister will be safe, I promise. Go have fun and drop by in the morning. I want to hear all about it."

Finally, he relented and smiled. "Fine...I'll go have fun. Thanks for this, Tim. I owe you."

I shook my head. "Call it a friendly favor that doesn't require a favor in return. It's a gift to you. Now go, enjoy yourself." He then nodded and flew off, so I shut the door.

* * *

The night with the three girls went great, and I was pleased to find that Tessa was actually a good dancer. Yes...we danced. It was apparently one of the skills that were buried deep within what was once my past life, because the movements came naturally, as did the rhythm. As I held the Blaziken close against me, I could swear I could hear her purring or something.

Can an avian purr?

As I continued dancing with her, I noticed that her body temperature had toned down to a near-human temperature. Tessa had once told me that a Blaziken's body temperature directly correlates its emotions, meaning the more calm and relaxed she was, the lower it would be. With that being the case, I was glad to know that my plan had worked and she was relaxed and enjoying herself. As weird as it sounds, the whole time I was in the hospital, I was worried most about Tessa. I mean, _she _had been the one to kill a man, not me. My bullet wounds had healed phenomenally fast, but the wounds to Tessa's heart and mind were going to heal at a much slower rate.

The day had apparently taken a lot out of the Blaziken since even though she was happy, she decided to turn in early. Geanne agreed and decided to join her, but Trisha was far from sleepy, as was I. Geanne assured me that they'd be okay and instructed me to spend time with the Sacred One and "be a good host". I was still worried about Tessa, but after being practically forced to enjoy myself, I relented and continued spending the night with the Latias.

I was relaxing on the sofa next to Trisha in her human form while we talked and had a few drinks.

"So, how do you think things are going with your brother?" I asked Trish with a grin.

She shrugged. "Well you know how he is. He's a good male and is very kind...but something happens to him whenever the subject of Misty comes up in conversation. All of the sudden he becomes nervous and worried." Trisha then sighed. "I hope he's okay."

"He'll be fine." I responded as I took a drink of wine. "From what Ash has told me, Misty is pretty open-minded...plus it's obvious she already likes him and sees him as a human. That's not to say it won't be a shock for her, but I'm confident she'll still like him all the same. This needed to be done sooner or later though, as it's not good to lie to the ones we care about."

Trisha nodded as she finished off her glass of wine and reverted to her Pokemon form. I had always found it strange that along with shifting her form, she could create clothing along with it. Not that I minded of course, as staring at a naked human girl would have been a little awkward.

The Latias settled herself down on the sofa beside me and lay her head in my lap. I chuckled as I stroked the soft down fur (or feathers...still unsure about it) of her long neck. She let out a cute trilling sound as she looked up at me with her bright yellow eyes. "Thanks for doing that for Michael, Timothy. I wasn't sure if he would ever have done it on his own. He's a little..._protective_ of me."

"So am I," I said with a grin, "but we all need time to have our own fun. Besides, you're safe here. We're surrounded by powerful Pokemon, and no one but us knows you're here."

"Maybe," she responded, "but I'm probably the most powerful one here."

I shrugged. "I'm pretty sure I could take you."

This caused the Sacred One to eye me with a smirk. "Is that a challenge?"

I chuckled as I rubbed her cheek. "Maybe. Perhaps sometime we'll have to set some time apart in a safe place to battle it out."

"I'm not usually much for battling," she replied with a soft smile, "but I'd like to see just how strong an Awakened can be. We'll find some time and a place to do that, if you can promise not to get upset when you lose."

I smirked. "Competitive, aren't we?"

"I guess Tessa's rubbing off on me a bit." Trisha responded with a giggle.

I then sighed as I looked down at the Latias. "Do you think she'll be okay?"

Without hesitation, Trisha nodded with a warm smile. "She will. She has great friends that care about her, and she's strong. She'll be fine...you just have to be patient and loving with her, okay?"

"I can definitely do that. Thanks Trish." I breathed out in relief.

I felt as the Pokemon nuzzled my stomach. "No problem, Tim." She was silent for a moment before I heard her whisper, "Tim?"

"Hmm?" I answered as I looked down at her.

She sighed and shut her eyes. "It's time for you to learn the truth, Timothy...about yourself." Needless to say, I was both confused and excited, so I waited for her to continue. She looked up at me with a nervous expression. "The reason why I made contact with you in the first place was because I was the one charged by Highlord Arceus to watch over you and decide whether you were truly worthy of the title 'Awakened'...but the highlord also gave me the task of revealing to you your past when the time was right."

"And..?" I questioned her.

She looked ashamed. "I'm so sorry, Timothy...but I had to be absolutely positive before I could tell you. After you've shown such care and love to your friends and with the conference with the humans today, I feel you've proven your worth to us." Her eyes opened and she looked up at me. "Your friends Geanne, Brutus, Gunnar, and Tessa already know this, but before you lost your memories, you were a Pokemon Ranger."

I bobbed my head from side to side in thought. "Well, that makes sense. If I'm anything then like I am now, that would be the obvious career choice."

Trisha shook her head. "But that was the point, Timothy. I had to make sure you had changed from the way you used to be." I was confused at this, but she just shook her head. "You were an assassin, Tim...but more than that, you were cold and cruel to everyone, save your Pokemon. You were driven by a desire to instill fear in enemies in an attempt to divert any others from _ever _doing the same. Your heart was in the right place, but your power corrupted you...turning you into a monster."

I sat quietly for a second and let the information sink in. When I thought about it, it made sense. A perfect example was how I had acted to Tessa's ex-trainer when I learned of her past. I was ready to wipe him off the face of the planet, and leave his mangled corpse as a warning to anyone else who would do the same that he did. Suddenly I wished I didn't know my past...not with what I was.

"Wait, what was your job then if I _hadn't_ changed?" I asked the Latias.

Once again she sighed, but it was a sad and pained breath. "My job was to kill you if you were the same."

"So that's why you got so close to me..." I answered, now feeling betrayed.

Trisha removed herself from my lap and looked eye-to-eye with me. "Originally yes...but I didn't expect to actually care about you. My kind is naturally distrusting of humans, and the incident with my brother and I in Alto Mare made it even worse." At the mention of this, her eyes became filled with tears, but she continued. "My brother died...and it was only by the grace of Arceus itself that I was able to have him returned to me."

"He died?" I asked, now very concerned.

The eon Pokemon nodded sadly. "He was forced to become the new Soul Dew when his power was drained. Highlord Arceus sacrificed some of his own life force to give life back to my brother, and allow him to return to this realm." I noticed as a tear dropped from her eye as she remembered. "I was alone for almost four years, protecting the Soul Dew on my own before Michael was reborn." After a few minutes of saddened remembrance, she looked up with a soft smile. "When my brother came back, we left Alto Mare for somewhere safer...and ended up here. Since then, I've been in debt to Highlord Arceus...and this was my way of repaying him for the favor he did for me and my brother."

I breathed deeply and looked into her golden eyes. "So this was all just a job then."

"It started out as that, yes...but it's not anymore." Trisha replied firmly. "Like I said, I didn't expect to start caring about you."

I held a stern look of my own. "And how do I know that's the truth? You haven't been very honest with me until now."

"As a psychic, I could have simply forced you to accept this...but I'm giving you the choice instead. If I really wanted to _make_ you believe something, I could do it." Trisha responded with a hopeful smile.

I bobbed my head from side to side before grinning. "That's very true. So, what now?"

She shrugged. "The past will always be your past...but the future is still unwritten. If life has taught me anything, it's to enjoy it as much as you can while doing as much good as you can. Lucky for you, you have the ability to do both. Trust your instincts, and just live."

"If I may ask," I started, "why did you have to wait so long to tell me about who I was?"

Trisha smiled and lay down in my lap, so I cradled her against me. "I had to wait until you were secure enough in who you are now to not let who you _were _define your present and your future. Amory came across a similar issue defining who he was. As I remember it he said, 'The circumstances of one's birth are irrelevant; it is what you do with the gift of life that determines who you are.'"

"Wow," I whispered solemnly, "that's really deep."

The Latias nodded with a smile. "A similar lesson should hold true for you, Timothy. Your past does not dictate who you are. That choice always rests with you."

* * *

Contrary to what I had believed, finding out who I was didn't change who I had become at all. There were no revelations, no drastic changes of character...nothing. It was nice to know what my past life was so that the mystery was cleared up, but now that I knew, it really didn't matter to me. I used to think of my memory loss as a debilitation of sorts...but it instead offered me a new lease on life. I was able to become whatever I wanted to be, and I have to say that I'm confident I made a better choice this time.

The future was yet to be determined, but I knew without a doubt that it was mine to decide...and as long as I had Tessa, Geanne, Trish, and the others, I knew the future held a lot of promise.

**End of Part I**

* * *

**A/N: Wow...what a journey. Well to all my readers, this is the end of Part I of the series. There _will_ be more to come, I promise. Let me work on it for a bit while you all enjoy my other stories...and if you haven't read them yet, you definitely should. Keep an eye out on my stories for the next installment. Until then, be cool.**


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